Demon?
by X abbodon X
Summary: Kyuubi, finally free of Madara's genjutsu, gets close to Naruto and together they change his life for the better. Naruto/Harem, rated for lemons and probable violence.
1. Chapter 1

This story will be Naruto harem in time; however I'm not sure how large the harem will get nor who will be in it. The only people confirmed at the moment are Hinata and FemKyuubi; there will also be lemons later so consider yourself warned if you don't like that sort of thing

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The room was lit by only a soft slither of silver moonlight streaming through the window, illuminating a messy blonde haired child who was sitting cross legged on his bed. A small sigh escaped Naruto's lips as he concentrated on his meditation, he had taken up these exercises to try and ward off the nightmares that usually plagued his sleep and much to his surprise it had worked... mostly. He still woke up in a cold sweat around twice a night on average, but the dreams were slowly getting less lucid. As his mind quieted down and his body relaxed Naruto began to hear the steady slow dripping of water, following the sound he soon entered the dank sewers of his mind scape. By now he was no stranger to this place nor the fox who was caged up here, he had been meditating before sleeping for two weeks or so now and he had found himself here more often than not. Admittedly he hadn't even found the fox until his third visit and even now the almost choking aura of evil that surrounded the Kyuubi sent a shiver up his spine but he wasn't afraid of the fox, in fact every time he had found himself in the sewer he had sought out the cage and tried to talk to his captive, after all he reasoned they might as well be friends since they were stuck together, usually the response he got was nothing more than angry growls and threats but he had got a few pieces of useful information out of the fox even if it had probably never intended them to be helpful.

He turned the corner smiling as the large bars of the gate that held the Kyuubi loomed before him. He walked forward a few steps before pausing, usually by now he could feel the fox's aura of malice but it seemed to be missing. He took a few steps closer to the bars his eyes searching for any sign of the fox and finding none, his brow wrinkled in concentration, normally the fox would be pressing itself against the bars in it's attempts to attack him or escape. He stood still for a few seconds concentrating as he attempted to find any signs of where the fox had gone, he heard what sounded like... sobbing? From beyond the bars which only served to confuse him more. Who, or what was sobbing? And what where they doing in the fox's seal?

He took a deep breath before calling out "Hello?!"

There was a pause before Naruto picked up a quiet reply of "Go away." amongst the now quieter sobs.

Naruto frowned slightly and walked right up to the bars before pausing yet again although he knew the fox couldn't kill him, this had been one of the pieces of information Kyuubi had accidently let slip, he was still a little wary about stepping into it's domain. His curiosity however soon overcame his reservation about continuing and he slipped between the bars concentrating and conjuring a faintly glowing orb to illuminate his path, yet another piece of information the Kyuubi had let slip was that he could create whatever he wanted in this place, it was his brain after all, he headed deeper into the almost cloying darkness of the seal following the sound of crying.

Naruto soon found the source of the crying curled up on the floor in a foetal position her arms wrapped firmly around her legs as her body heaved with her sobs, a veil of deep red hair covered her face although Naruto could see tears glimmering in the light of the little orb her had created. She wasn't much older than Naruto himself maybe 17 or 18 and was wearing a dark red, almost black, dress that hugged her curves. Naruto frowned slightly, feeling a strange fluttering sensation in his stomach and a gentle warmth that seemed to radiate from his chest, and squatted down so his head was level with hers, he hated seeing anyone sad but for some reason every tear that fell from her cheeks seemed like a dagger to his heart, "Hello." he said his concern for the woman in front of him evident in his voice.

"I'm sorry" was the chocked reply from the girl as she went into a renewed bout of sobbing

"Sorry?" Naruto echoed "Sorry for what?"

"Everything." she replied raising her head to meet his her hair parting and letting Naruto see her face.

Naruto gasped as his gaze immediately locked onto her eyes, his heart skipping a beat, they were red with black slitted pupils! "You're the fox!" he spluttered, noticing the tails that waved behind her for the first time; he had assumed there wavering forms were merely a trick of the light. Kyuubi forced back a blush that threatened to overtake her face as she gazed into his soulful blue eyes, his memories simply couldn't do those eyes justice, truthfully she felt a deep compassion for the boy and had however briefly contemplated making him her mate, after all he had all the qualities she desired; he was kind and gentle yet he had this aura of strength and determination about him that belied his youth, he possessed a mischievous streak that almost rivalled her own, and she knew with the utmost certainty that he would gladly sacrifice his very soul if it meant his partner would be happy. She had however refused to dwell on those thoughts, no point getting her hopes up, he may be willing to forgive almost anything but there was no way he would be able to forgive her for what she had done to his village and the suffering she had caused.

Kyuubi nodded "Yes" she said her voice barely audible

Naruto shook his head in confusion, the fox was a girl?! Why was she apologizing? Why did she seem so sad all of a sudden? Why wasn't she threatening him like usual? What were these weird feelings running through his mind? And why did seeing her sad hurt him so much? It was all far too much to take in "You're a girl?" he asked dumbly his mouth seeming to work without any input from his mind.

Kyuubi blinked in surprise, she had expected a few thing but that question wasn't one of them, "Yes I am" she confirmed the faintest hint of humour tingeing her otherwise sombre tone.

Naruto shook his head clearing the other thoughts aside "So why are you crying?" if he knew maybe he could cheer her up!

Kyuubi hung her head again "I've caused so much suffering" she said faintly "To the village but mostly to you... I'm so sorry Naruto-sama."

Naruto's mouth opened and closed soundlessly, he had totally no idea how to respond to what Kyuubi had just told him, for once the loudest ninja in Konoha was lost for words. He briefly wondered if this was some trick on the fox's part to gain control or hurt him but his instincts where telling him to trust her and he always listened to his instincts after all if you grew up with almost everyone hating you then you got good at guessing peoples intentions. "Why'd you do it?" he finally asked after a heavy pause.

Kyuubi lifted her head to look at Naruto again; she found no hate in his eyes nor any fear just curiosity and kindness "That's just it, I don't really know" she said "I was summoned to this realm by another human" there was a pause as she searched for a name "Madara Uchiha I believe he was called, then he looked me in the eyes and all I can remember from then on is red. Only recently has the veil started to lift but even now it still tries to encroach on my mind. I only know what I've done to you and Konoha through your memories." she sniffed her tears stopped for now "I know what I've done is inexcusable and I won't bother asking for forgiveness" she lowered her gaze to the floor "I'll except any punishment you deem fit."

Naruto smiled "You're right" he agreed "I can't forgive you" Kyuubi's head sunk lower and she gave a soft sob "Because there's nothing to forgive."

Kyuubi's head snapped up her face the picture of surprise "What?" she stuttered her eyes gazing into his and once again finding no trace of malice

Naruto just gave one of his famous grins "You weren't in control of yourself when you attacked and you definitely aren't the cause of what happened in my life" his voice darkened slightly, his eyes flashing with suppressed sadness for a second, as he talked about himself but quickly perked back up as he continued "So there's nothing to forgive Kyuubi-chan."

"Kyuubi-chan?" Kyuubi repeated incredulously staring at Naruto her tears restarting as relief and happiness flooded her mind, even after all she'd done he considered her a friend? It was way more than she had even hoped possible. He had forgiven her! Maybe there was some hope after all, maybe just maybe she could becomes mates with Naruto a small blush appeared on her cheeks at the thought.

Naruto panicked as he saw her tears flowing again "Are you crying because I called you Kyuubi-chan?!" he said frantically "I'm sorry I won't do it again! What should I call you!"

Kyuubi shook her head a small giggle escaping her lips as the tears continued to fall "No, no, it's fine you can call me Kyuubi-chan if you want"

"The why are you crying? Whatever I did I promise I won't do it again just please stop crying!" Naruto continued frantically; he absolutely hated being the one to make people cry even more so since he had designated Kyuubi-chan as one of his precious people.

Kyuubi smiled "Baka! I'm crying because I'm happy!"

Naruto blinked in surprise and paused "You can do that?" Kyuubi gave him another big smile and nodded causing Naruto's face to light up as he smiled right back "That's weird." he said bluntly.

Kyuubi giggled gently "I'm a giant demon fox, very little about me isn't weird." she pointed out with a slight smirk.

Naruto nodded "Hmmm true." he conceded a large yawn interrupting him before he could say anything else and causing him to give an embarrassed chuckle "I guess I should go to sleep soon, otherwise I'll be late for school tomorrow." Kyuubi's face flashed with disappointment for only a second before she caught herself but nevertheless Naruto noticed his grin fading "I'm sorry." he almost whispered feeling he had somehow let her down.

Kyuubi shook her head "It's no problem, I just wanted to talk for a little while longer." she gave him her best grin.

Naruto nodded in understanding and fell silent for a second "I'll talk to you first thing in the morning then." he declared pausing for another second before leaning over and giving Kyuubi and peck on the cheek his face slightly flashed "Night Kyuubi-chan!" he declared waving at her and leaving a red faced and spluttering fox in his wake as he faded from his mindscape.

Naruto stretched as he opened his eyes, a silly grin plastered on his face, leaping to his feet he quickly shed his clothes and pulled on some pyjama's before throwing himself back onto the bed; he was out almost as soon as his head hit the pillow the grin never leaving his face.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everyone; for those of you who asked naruto is currently 12 and they are in midsummer a few months of the final graduation exam; sorry I really should have made it cleaer but I forgot I'd be splitting the story into shorter chapters to upload =p

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Naruto grunted as he slowly lifted his head off the pillow blinking rapidly as the world swam into focus. Swinging himself off the bed Naruto made his way towards the shower shedding his clothes on the way. Stepping inside he flicked the water on letting the cold water wake him up fully before he turned it up to a more reasonable temperature. As he stood under the water he cast his mind back to the night before, the same grin he wore the night before slowly falling back into place on his face, "Was that real?" he muttered to himself shaking his head "Eh, only one way to find out!" he bounded out of the shower darting into his room to pull on some boxers before heading to the kitchen and wolfing down a quick breakfast. That done he headed back into his room pulling on the rest of his clothes before sitting on the edge of his bed and closing his eyes, in his excitement forgetting everything about normal meditation techniques, and focusing on the sewer in his minds eye.

Naruto opened his eyes finding himself once again in the sewer that was his mindscape he looked around pulling a face; this was no place for someone as nice as Kyuubi-chan to live. He focused on a wall trying to change it's colour and although the wall got a faint blue tinge there was no other appreciable difference, Naruto frowned and shook his head clearly he would need to practice this if he was to give Kyuubi a place she would like living in. Putting this thought aside for the moment, but silently vowing he would practice more later, he made his way towards the fox's cage as he got closer his heart began to beat faster. He found himself worrying, what if it had been a dream, what if Kyuubi-chan was back to being a giant evil fox? His face scrunched up in confusion as his determined walking slowed to an amble; why did he care so much? It certainly wouldn't be the first time someone cared about went missing or betrayed him so why did the thought that she had fill him with dread? Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he picked up the pace again rounding the corner and walking over to the gates letting loose a breath he hadn't been aware he had been holding when he noted the distinct lack of any malicious aura. As he walked closer he spotted her figure, curled up and sleeping, just next to the bars of the gate; upon spotting her Naruto's grin grew another inch or two and the heat and fluttering sensations he had felt the other day immediately returned at full force. He advanced slowly his eyes glued to her form, her chest was rising and falling slowly with her breaths and her mouth moving slightly as she mumbled semi-coherently in her sleep; she looked so peaceful, cute, happy... and sexy... Naruto paused his train of thought derailed as he wondered where that particular thought had come from. Slipping through the bars he knelt down reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder, pausing for a second, it seemed such a shame to wake her from such an obviously good dream, before shaking her awake "Hey Kyuubi-chan, wake up"he said gently.

Kyuubi yawned and stretched as her eyes fluttered open, causing Naruto's brain to remind him, much to his chagrin, that Kyuubi was definitely sexy, "Morning Naruto-sama" Kyuubi muttered tiredly "What are you doing here so early?" she added as she pushed herself into a sitting position her dress riding up showing more of her legs and doing nothing to help Naruto keep his mind of her body.

"Huh?" Naruto said "I promised I'd talk to you in the morning didn't I, I always keep my promises!" he gave Kyuubi and giant grin.

Kyuubi returned the smile feeling her cheeks turning red despite her best efforts "I know you do" she said softly "After all I've seen your memories."

Naruto blanched slightly "All my memories?! What about when I'm in the shower and stuff..." he said as his face tried to simultaneously drain of colour and go red.

Kyuubi went bright red as well shaking her head "No! I wouldn't.. I mean I'd never... I haven't..." she spluttered trying to defend herself.

Naruto calmed down her reaction telling him more than her words would be able to "Sorry.. it just occurred to me that you could've seen.." he fell silent blushed and jerked his head downwards.

Kyuubi giggled softly finding his embarrassment adorable "I wouldn't look there" she said "I promise." she smiled; unless you asked me to of course she added to herself.

Naruto smiled and hugged her "Thanks Kyuubi-chan" he said happily

Kyuubi flushed slightly as she hugged him back reigning in her libido and keeping the hug strictly friendly "Umm.. Shouldn't you get to the academy Naruto-sama?"

Naruto pouted "But I wanna talk to you some more!"

Kyuubi giggled and grinned "We can still talk you know." she pointed out giggling again at the shocked look on Naruto's face.

"What?! Really?! How?!" Naruto said leaning forward his face mere inches from hers, his eyes shining with barely concealed excitement, Naruto realised how close he was about a second later and his cheeks went a gentle red however he made no move to pull back.

"Just think about telling me what you want to say and I'll hear it" she said

Naruto grinned and hugged Kyuubi tightly "Awesome!"

Kyuubi smiled gently "You really should get to the academy now Naruto-sama." she reminded him

Naruto nodded "Oh.. right.." he chuckled "I kinda forgot about that" he shook his head and shot Kyuubi another smile "Talk to you in a bit! He declared as he faded from sight.

Naruto opened his eyes and pushed himself to his feet before running out of his front door kicking it closer behind him, he never locked it any more; after all no-one would dare steal from the demon child and if it was a group out to trash the place having the door unlocked just meant it wouldn't be broken down. Quickly ascending onto the rooftops as he made his way across town 'So can you hear me Kyuubi-chan?' he asked curious

'Yes, I can hear you loud and clear Naruto-sama' Came Kyuubi's response

Naruto pulled a face, it was weird talking to her without being able to see her face and he found the experience slightly unnerving, 'Why do you call me sama?' he asked voicing the question that had been bothering him since he had first heard her use the suffix 'Isn't it used for people you respect? Why would you respect me?'

Kyuubi smiled 'I respect you for staying human and retaining your generosity and drive to help others despite what I've put you through...'

Naruto frowned as he heard the sadness creeping into her voice 'I already told you it's not your fault!' he said 'I won't, can't, blame you for what happened so stop thinking it's your fault! Cause from what I heard it was that Madara-teme!'

Kyuubi giggled at his reply but no matter what he said she still felt bad for what the boy had suffered merely for containing her and the nicer he was to her the worse she felt for making him suffer. 'That's the other reason I respect you, you're not afraid of me, you don't see me as a demon like other humans nor as the queen of demons like the rest of my kind; you just see me as Kyuubi.'

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and he stumbled slightly as he landed on a roof almost slipping and falling to the street below "You're the queen of demons!" he spluttered aloud

'Yeah... well I was, someone else has probably taken my place by now.' Kyuubi responded suppressing giggles at his response; she had heard his verbal outburst because like the thought speech it was directed at her.

Naruto chuckled 'Wow.. that's awesome! I bet you looked great with all the fancy dresses and stuff!'

Kyuubi went red at his offhand compliment silently glad he couldn't see her face 'I..I guess I did' she responded as she regained her composure 'I was never really one for all the stupid dresses and things.'

Naruto grinned as he vaulted into the tree in the academy playground/training grounds then onto the ground before running into the building straight for the classroom ignoring the glares from most of the teachers and other pupils he passed in the hallway. In his head Kyuubi growled to herself she knew everyone hated Naruto but seeing memories and seeing it for real where two very different things; she felt her angry rise with each angry glare that was sent Naruto's way and each time she got angrier the veil of red got harder and harder to resist. Catching herself before she fell back under the genjutsu's influence she took several deep calming breaths; Naruto didn't let them get to him so she too could ignore the glares although she silently swore to herself to get slow painful revenge on each and every person that hurt the man she loved... she paused; did she love him? She mulled over how she felt around him; he made her feel wanted, needed even, and he could make her blush and stutter with just a compliment! Her! The queen of all demons! She was thousands if not millions of years old, it was a bit hard to remember everything all seemed to blur together after the first eon or so, yet he made her feel alive in a way she knew very little if anything about; yes if this wasn't love she didn't know what was.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto stepped into the classroom giving a relieved sigh as he saw people just settling into their seats, he wasn't late.

Iruka chuckled "You cut it really close today Naruto"

Naruto gave Iruka a huge grin "Yeah; but I'm not late am I?"

Iruka sighed and shook his head although a smile tugged at his lips "Alright go sit down."

Inside his head Kyuubi was scanning the class and putting each person to the memories Naruto had of them, she giggled slightly as she spotted Hinata; the girl obviously had a huge crush on her host although he seemed totally oblivious. She smiled softly; maybe she could try and get them together after all Naruto, more than anyone she had ever met, deserved to be happy. Even if making him happy meant putting aside her own love for the boy she was willing to do it.

Naruto walked over towards his usual seat 'Wait' Kyuubi spoke up causing Naruto to pause

'What is it?' he asked

'Don't sit there' Kyuubi asked gently

Naruto's brow crinkled in confusion 'Why? And where should I sit then?' he replied

'Just sit in the back next to the girl with the large coat.' Kyuubi supplied

'Hinata?' Naruto said his gaze moving over to lock onto the shy girl who shrank into her jacket as she felt Naruto's eyes fall on her, her face glowing a gentle pink ,'Ok then' he shrugged and turned before heading up and sitting down next to Hinata "Good morning" he said with a smile pulling on his, admittedly small, knowledge of manners to greet her; she was a Hyuuga after all.

Hinata's response was going bright red and giving a quiet "eep!" her Naruto was sitting next to her! And he was talking to her!

Naruto chuckled quietly at her response, strangely he could feel the butterflies and warmth that he usually felt when talking with Kyuubi, he had never noticed how pretty she was; especially when she was blushing like this. Wait; what was he thinking! This was just like that time with Kyuubi-chan.. but Hinata wouldn't want to be his friend, after all she was a Hyuuga, if he remembered correctly the Hyuuga heir even, and he was just a.. demon. "You don't mind me sitting here do you?" he asked nervously noticing Hinata appeared to be trying to avoid his eyes, forcing his smile to stay in place despite the imminent rejection.

Hinata shook her head "N..n..no" she stuttered "I.... I want y.. you to si... s..sit here."

Naruto gave Hinata a huge grin, she actually wanted to sit next to him! He had found someone to add to the, admittedly short, list of those who didn't outright hate him. "Cool thanks!" he said happily.

Hinata sat in her seat desperately trying to think of something to say, he was right there! Maybe she should tell him how she felt? But then... what if he rejected her? No.. no he was too kind for that he wouldn't say no. But then if he was just dating her for pity? She definitely deserved his pity, she was weak and useless her father said so practically every day. Why would someone like Naruto want to go out with a failure like her? No, it was better to just stay silent.

Naruto frowned as he saw Hinata's face fall "What's wrong?" he asked "Have I done something?" he added like with Kyuubi he could almost feel a knife turning in his heart at the thought he had made Hinata cry.

She opened her mouth to speak but all that came out was a faint squeak before she shut it again; she couldn't tell Naruto what was wrong!

"Come on Hinata!" Naruto said as loud as he dared now that class was under way, Iruka was blabbering on about kunai throwing or something, Naruto didn't care ,Hinata was much more important, "Please.." he pleaded desperately when his response from Hinata was a strangled sob and her face falling another half an inch or so, his grin slipped off his face "Hinata-san please don't be sad. I can't bare seeing you sad; I'm sorry for whatever I did.. just please be happy again."

Hinata gave another small sob as she realised she was upsetting Naruto, I can't do anything right, father was right I am a total failure she lamented "I..I..I'm so..sorr...sorry" she sobbed gently.

Naruto was almost tempted to laugh when he heard those words leave Hinata's mouth, this was turning out to be almost exactly like his first meeting with Kyuubi-chan "Sorry for what? I'm the one who made you cry Hinata-san." he grabbed her shoulders and stared into her eyes, Hinata's cheeks turning bright red as she gave a little meep of surprise, Naruto just stared into her eyes unable to break his gaze away a blush slowly forming on his cheeks, she had such beautiful eyes, "I just want to see you smile, I bet you look really pretty when you do."

Hinata's blush got deeper, one thought bouncing around her head, Naruto-kun said I was pretty! Her sadness forgotten for the moment she gave Naruto a small smile "T...t..thank you" she said softly

Naruto chuckled rubbing the back of his head "No need to thank me it's the truth." Inside his head Kyuubi was giggling softly "He's a natural at this" she muttered to herself. Hinata's face went redder still and she opened her mouth to reply but finding herself unable to make more than a little squeak.

"Naruto!" Iruka's voice cut across Hinata's attempts to reply

"Huh, what?" Naruto's head snapped round to look at Iruka, causing a wave of subdued laughter to ripple through the classroom

Iruka sighed "I asked you a question Naruto." he said "But I'm just going to assume you weren't listening and repeat it. Can you give me an example of a jutsu for each element?"

Naruto blanched, damn! Not good, not good! I can only think of a fire jutsu! His panic was interrupted by Kyuubi 'Don't worry Naruto-sama; I know a few thousand jutsu, I'm sure I can give you an some examples.'

Naruto's face lit up; his eyes widening with shock and awe 'Woooooow' he muttered 'Really?' Kyuubi nodded the affirmative giggling at how he perked up at the mention of jutsu; there was a pause before she realised he couldn't have seen her nod 'Yes' she said giggling at herself now

'Can you teach me!' Naruto asked hopefully

Kyuubi smiled gently 'Sure, I'll teach you anything you want to know.'

Naruto was basically bouncing of the walls with excitement 'Awesome! Thanks Kyuubi-chan! You're the best!'

Kyuubi giggled and shook her head 'Shouldn't you answer Iruka's question now?'

Naruto blinked 'Oh right I forgot about that.' he rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. Iruka had been watching Naruto in shock. Naruto had been panicking when he had asked him that question, but to be honest he wasn't that surprised no one except maybe Sasuke or Sakura should have been able to give him a full set of examples, but then something odd had happened and Naruto's face had gone from panic to calm, then shock, and now the boy appeared to be brimming with energy. He had only seem Naruto this full of energy when the class had started learning the academy jutsu.

Naruto grinned "Alright Iruka-sensei I've got the examples; for fire there is the grand fireball jutsu, water has the water dragon jutsu, earth could be the stone spike jutsu and lightning would be static blast jutsu." he grinned "That's right isn't it Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka stared at Naruto for a few seconds before regaining his composure; the rest of the class was still staring at Naruto as if he'd grown a second head, well except Hinata who was watching him with a serene smile on her face, "Yes... that's right" he said slowly "Where.. did you learn that?"

Naruto opened his mouth to answer but Kyuubi spoke up before he could 'Don't tell them that we can talk!' she warned terrified of what would happen to Naruto if it became public knowledge that he and the demon could communicate freely.

Naruto gave a sad smile 'I wasn't going to, I don't really even want to imagine what they would do to us if they knew we could talk.' he half wanted to give Kyuubi a comforting grin or hug but without entering his mindscape he couldn't. "You know me Iruka-sensei" Naruto grinned at Iruka "I just love to learn about jutsu!" his answer made most of the class chuckle again and shake their heads; it made sense now how Naruto, the worst in the class, knew something they didn't.

Iruka frowned, he had noticed the pause before Naruto had spoken like he was talking to himself; or maybe something inside him! Had Naruto begun talking to the Nine Tailed Fox? He gave Naruto a smile and forced a small chuckle "Oh right, I guess I should have seen that coming." he replied making a mental note to see the Hokage at the next opportunity. "So exactly how many jutsu do you know then?"

Naruto paused for a second "Umm I know about a hundred" he gave Iruka a huge grin followed by a pout "But no-one'll teach me how to use em"

'Hey what am I, chopped liver?' Kyuubi pouted playfully

'Oh I'm sorry Kyuubi-chan, I thought you knew I was lying' Naruto apologised quickly

Kyuubi giggled 'I was just joking, I knew you were.'

Naruto laughed 'Oh right.. sorry.'

Iruka chuckled and nodded going back to teaching although he decided to keep his eye on Naruto, the kid was definitely acting weird.

Naruto smiled and turned his attention back to Hinata "Want to meet up some time so we can talk and get to know each other better?"

Is Naruto-kun asking me on a date?! Hinata thought her face slowly rising through the shades of red as she pondered the question "L..like a d..d..da..date?" she asked softly looking at Naruto with wide hopeful eyes.

Naruto considered it for a second and nodded chuckling "Sure I guess you could call it a date."

Hinata's face managed to find another two shades of red as he blush deepened "H..h..hai Naruto-kun, I w..w..would love to." she replied, that settled it this was definitely a dream; she would wake up soon and life would be back to normal.

Naruto grinned "Naruto-kun?" he asked slightly amused at the sudden addition of the suffix, although hearing her use it did send a pleasant warm feeling radiating out from his stomach.

Hinata froze, had she called him Naruto-kun out loud?, "I..I..I..." she stuttered trying to find an excuse.

Naruto grinned "Don't worry about it Hinata-chan, I'm fine with you calling me Naruto-kun." Hinata would of replied but she didn't trust her ability to speak right now so she made do with a nod and a small smile. "So anyway meet at Ichiraku's tomorrow? Like 4ish?"

Hinata gave a gentle giggle, she should have known they'd be going to Ichiraku's after all ramen was second only to oxygen for Naruto, "S..sure" she said smiling "I'll m..m..meet y..you there."

Naruto beamed "Great!" he said happily a slight blush on his cheeks; he loved seeing Hinata smile.

'Why didn't you ask her to meet you today?' Kyuubi voiced her thought

'Huh?.. Oh right.' Naruto chuckled 'Well tomorrow is the weekend so we'll have more time... and I was kinda hoping we could start training today.' she didn't need to see him to know he was giving her a hopeful pleading look.

'Sure, we can start after school if you want.' she replied

'Thanks! You're the best Kyuubi-chan!' Naruto grinned happily.


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of the day passed in relative normality, although Kyuubi had jumped in as his sensei when a few of the teachers had tried to teach him taijutsu wrong, Naruto smirked at the memory of the looks on their face when he ignored them and took up a proper taijutsu stance. He made a mental note to thank Kyuubi later as he walked back down the corridor and slipped into Iruka's classroom "Hey Iruka-sensei." he said smiling.

Iruka looked up from his paperwork "Oh.. Hello Naruto-kun, what are you doing here?"

Naruto gave a sheepish grin "Ummm I kinda have a question I want to ask."

Iruka nodded, maybe this would help him understand Naruto's sudden strange behaviour, "I'm listening" he said "What is it?"

"Well when I'm talking to k..h.. a few people I feel really weird. Is there something wrong with me?" Naruto asked a little concerned since normally Kyuubi-chan fixed him up but this time it wasn't going away; if anything it got stronger each time he talked to or saw them.

Iruka nodded "Are these people girls?" he asked a small grin tugging at his lips

Naruto nodded confused "Yeah.. why?"

Iruka's grin grew "What do you feel?"

Naruto frowned "I feel like I'm nervous, you know butterflies in the stomach kinda thing, and there's also this weird warm feeling in my chest.. it's not a bad warmth it feels really nice."

By now Iruka was sporting a giant grin "And you find yourself thinking that they're... pretty without meaning too?" he questioned

Naruto's eyes widened and a blush appeared on his cheeks "Yeah.. kinda. But how did you know!?"

Iruka chuckled "Don't worry there's nothing wrong with you Naruto." he said giving a small sigh of relief; Naruto hadn't been talking to the fox he'd just been love struck. Iruka's grin would've grown another inch or so if it could as he went over the lesson; Naruto had fallen for Hinata! That was why he paused before going to sit next to her and why he kept zoning out during the lesson, he must have been trying to impress her with his knowledge when he answered the question as well! Now that he had worked out the truth Iruka felt slightly bad about jumping to a conclusion especially since it involved the fox; he had sworn he would never let the fact Naruto contained it affect his views of the boy but that was what had happened.

"Then what is it?!" Naruto demanded

"It's quite simple really." Iruka explained "You're in love."

Naruto frowned "What? No I love you and the old man, and Ichiraku-san, and this feels totally different."

Iruka blinked in surprise "You love me?" he asked surprised and honoured

"Yeah, of course." Naruto smiled "You actually care about me"

Iruka gave a small sad smile, it made him sad and angry to know that so few people actually cared about Naruto that he'd love each one who did unconditionally "Anyway; it's not the same; there are two different types of love."

Naruto's frown deepened "What do you mean?"

Iruka smiled "You love me like a brother or a father, it's familial love; but those girls you have a romantic love for."

"Romantic love?" Naruto asked confused

Iruka sighed "Like a boyfriend loves and girlfriend." he offered

Naruto nodded "Ohhhh" he said blushing slightly

"So how many girls make you feel like this?" Iruka pushed

Naruto paused "Just two." he replied "Why? Is it important?"

Iruka chuckled slightly "Well I don't really like to be the bearer of bad news but you'll have to pick one of them if you want to have a relationship."

Naruto blanched "What?! Why?! So I have to stop talking too one of them?!"

Iruka shook his head, it was both endearing and sad that Naruto was so socially stunted, "No, you can still be friends with them both but you can only have one girlfriend."

"Oh right." Naruto replied to Iruka blushing slightly at the thought of Hinata or Kyuubi as his girlfriend although he had no idea how he'd ever be able to make that choice.

'Naruto-sama' Kyuubi spoke up 'Can we have a chat after this.'

Naruto gave a small nod 'Umm sure Kyuubi-chan.'

Iruka smiled "I hope I helped" he said

Naruto nodded "Yeah, you did. Thanks Iruka-sensei!" he gave Iruka a big grin

Iruka smiled back "No problem, if you ever need any help or advice feel free to ask me."

Naruto nodded "Ok, well see ya" he said waving Iruka goodbye as he headed back home.

------

Naruto quickly ascended back onto the rooftops as he headed back home 'You wanted to talk?' he asked.

'Yeah, but I meant I want to talk to you actually in your mindscape' Kyuubi replied feeling slightly silly for not specifying earlier.

Naruto chuckled 'Oh right, sure.' he vaulted round a chimney to quickly change his direction whilst maintaining most of his momentum 'What do you want to talk about?'

'Umm two things really' Kyuubi spoke up 'Firstly I want to talk about what Iruka told you' both parties were grateful they couldn't see each other at that particular point in time, Kyuubi because of the large blush that had spread across her cheeks and Naruto because his face had drained of colour 'and also I want to test something, if it works then we can significantly speed up your training in certain areas.'

Naruto nodded 'What is it? And how can it speed up my training?'

Kyuubi giggled 'I'll tell you when we get home.'

Naruto pouted 'awww comon Kyuubi-chan. Tell me now.'

'Why?' Kyuubi replied giggling 'What'll you do for me if I do?'

Naruto slowed down slightly as he thought 'ummmm.. what do you want?' he finally asked unable to think of anything he could give her.

Kyuubi was silent for a moment as she mulled over what to ask for, she briefly considered asking for freedom and few other more... private things that brought a blush to her cheek, 'I guess a nice long hug would be nice.' she finally decided with something halfway between a smirk and an embarrassed grin on her face.

Naruto laughed and nodded 'Sure!' he agreed happily 'So what's this thing that could help me train?'

'Well we both know you retain memories from your mindscape so I was wondering if it's possible for you to come here at night and train your mind whilst your bod rests.'

Naruto's face lit up 'Wow...' he mumbled 'Really? Will it work?'

Kyuubi gave a small sigh 'That's the problem, I'm not really sure what you can and can't learn in your mindscape.'

Naruto frowned 'What do you mean?' he asked as he landed on the porch of his apartment

'Well obviously you can't train physically, so you can't get stronger or faster or anything.' Kyuubi explained 'But you might be able to learn taijutsu styles, you can almost definitely learn information like history or things like that.' Naruto pulled a face at that 'and I'm not sure about jutsu either.'

Naruto frowned 'Why wouldn't I be able to learn jutsu?' he questioned pushing open the door and walking into the bedroom flopping onto the bed.

'Well...' Kyuubi began before Naruto cut her off

'Wait a second I'll join you shortly.' he grinned and closed his eyes easily locating the rhythmic dripping and entering his mindscape. Naruto stretched slightly and walked down the corridor towards the large gates grinning and waving as he saw Kyuubi waiting for him in the other side her tails waving behind her excitedly. "Hello Naruto-sama." she said happily waving back at Naruto as he slipped through the bars in the gate.

Naruto grinned "Hey Kyuubi-chan" he replied "Anyway what were you saying?"

Kyuubi paused for a second "You might not be able to learn jutsu because this is your mind." she said glancing at Naruto and seeing the blank look on his face she decided to elaborate "Put simply it's very hard to teach you a jutsu because even if you get it wrong the effect could happen anyway. It's your mind so you're in control; that means there's basically no way of telling if you've learnt the jutsu properly or wrong."

Naruto frowned slightly "Huh?" he muttered

Kyuubi chuckled under her breath "Alright, let's try this" she muttered "Alright Naruto would you like to try a jutsu?"

Naruto nodded eagerly "Yes!" he called out

Kyuubi nodded a slight smirk on her face "Alright; let's try the grand fireball jutsu"

Naruto's grin grew another inch "Really?!" he asked happily

Kyuubi smiled "I'll show you the hand signs then you can give it a go." she slowly went through about ten hand signs as Naruto watched her transfixed "Got it?" she asked

Naruto nodded his grin fading into a determined look "Yeah" he said flashing through a quick series of hand signs he took a deep breath and let loose a massive fireball. There was a heavy pause as Naruto just stared blankly at the air in front of him completely taken aback by how quickly he had learnt that jutsu "Wow...." he muttered turning to Kyuubi "I guess I can learn jutsu in here after all huh?" he laughed

Kyuubi shook her head "Sorry but you can't" she said

Naruto frowned "What do you mean?! Look at this!" he took another deep breath flashing through hand signs and released yet another huge fireball into the air "I call that learning jutsu!"

Kyuubi sighed "The hands signs I taught you were wrong for that jutsu, and you used different hand signs to the ones I taught you." she explained sounding a little sad she had to ruin Naruto's fun "In fact the second time you did it you used completely different hand signs to the first. You just wanted it to work so badly it did."

Naruto's face fell; his mouth in a silent o as he took the information in "I can still learn other things though?" he asked

Kyuubi giggled slightly and nodded "Yeah, you can."

Naruto grinned "So can we get started with my training now?" he asked excitedly almost bouncing in place in his excitement.

Kyuubi smiled warmly "Not quite yet, I'd like to talk about your talk with Iruka-san"

Naruto flushed slightly "Oh right.. ok" he gave her a small smile although he was more than a little worried about this conversation.

Kyuubi read his eyes easily, seeing the worry there, "Can you tell me who those girls that make you feel like that are?" she asked "If you don't want to I understand, and I promise I won't look into your mind to find out."

Naruto nodded "Well there are only two people who make me feel like that; there's Hinata-chan and.. you, Kyuubi-chan." Naruto tensed up afraid that Kyuubi would reject him or leave or any number of other scenarios his mind threw at him.

Kyuubi froze for a second, her heart almost exploding with joy, Naruto loved her! She glanced at him seeing the fear in his eyes and smiled "I feel the same about you too Naruto." she said gently a blush colouring her cheeks a soft shade of pink.

Naruto's face slowly split into a grin as what Kyuubi said sank in "You mean it?!" he asked all the energy he had earlier immediately bubbling back to the surface.

Kyuubi nodded "Yes, I mean it. And I think Hinata also feels the same way about you."

The information seemed to have the opposite affect on Naruto than Kyuubi as his face fell "Oh.." he muttered "She does?"

Kyuubi frowned "Yeah, I mean she's obviously quite shy but it's fairly easy to spot if you know what to look for. Why? I thought that would make you happier not upset."

Naruto looked up giving Kyuubi a grin, although she could tell it was faked, "Believe me I'm really happy that both of you lo.. like me." Kyuubi frowned slightly at that, why wouldn't he say they loved him? Was it that hard to believe? "But I don't want to hurt either of you or make anyone sad and Iruka-sensei said I'd have to pick one of you." his face seemed to drop again "How am I going to decide? And how can I do it without hurting either of you?"

Kyuubi nodded her blush getting a little stronger "Iruka wasn't necessarily correct." she said

Naruto's eyes widened and his grin returned in full force "What do you mean?" he asked hopefully.

"Well in my realm having more than one mate is not uncommon, in fact it's quite unusual for anyone in a position of power to have less than three." she explained watching Naruto's face to try and judge his reaction

"Mates?" Naruto asked "Aren't they friends?"

Kyuubi giggled "That is one meaning but for demons, and a few clans of humans, a mate is the rough equivalent of a wife in your culture."

Naruto nodded "So I won't have to pick between you and Hinata-chan?" he asked

Kyuubi nodded "But Hinata-san has to agree as well; she may not like the idea of sharing you." Naruto's face fell, he hadn't thought of that, "But from what I've seen I really don't think that'll be a problem."

Naruto looked at Kyuubi "Why? How do you know what she'll do?"

Kyuubi giggled slightly "You'll understand eventually." she offered giggling harder as Naruto pouted

"That's not a proper answer" he complained

Kyuubi shook her head "Oh by the way I believe you owe me a hug." she grinned

Naruto chuckled and nodded "I know" he said stepping forward and enveloping Kyuubi in a hug, his cheeks flushing a gentle pink.

A soft almost inaudible sigh escaped Kyuubi's lips as she relaxed into Naruto's arms her own cheeks ever so slightly redder than Naruto's "I could get used to this." she mumbled contentedly to herself.

Naruto nodded "Yeah, it's nice." he agreed with a grin, Kyuubi's face going from light pink to red in an instant as she heard him, she hadn't said that out loud had she? They stayed in each others arms for a few moments more both parties slightly reluctant to part but trying to hide it.

Naruto was the to break the slightly awkward silence left in the hug's wake "So shall we start training?" he asked rubbing the back of his head; a slight blush gracing his cheeks.

Kyuubi nodded glad that Naruto had been the one to break the silence "Sure, go back to your body and find somewhere where we won't be interrupted."

Naruto frowned slightly "Why? Can't I just use the training grounds?"

Kyuubi shook her head "I want to teach you to use my chakra as well as your own, and I will be teaching you special demon jutsu and styles."

Naruto's eyes widened and he dove at Kyuubi wrapping his arms around her "Thank you!" he yelled ecstatically.

Kyuubi blushed and smiled rubbing Naruto's head with one hand as the other snaked around him to return the hug "Don't worry about it, it's the least I can do." she responded

Naruto smiled happily although his mind was working frantically to try and decipher what he was feeling; he felt warm and safe in her arms, almost exactly like how he felt when the old man hugged him after something bad happened, but there was something more it wasn't exactly hunger but he knew he wanted something he just couldn't work out what that something was. Kyuubi gave a little contented sigh, the small noise breaking Naruto out of his train of thought, and he looked up realising what they were doing and how close they were, a soft blush appeared on his face, and he slowly extracted himself from her arms avoiding her eyes unsure of what to do, emotions he wasn't used to feeling bouncing around his head, he wanted to change the subject "Shall we go train?" he asked.

Kyuubi nodded "Sure" she agreed with a gentle smile, inwardly frowning at how obviously uncomfortable Naruto was when he received compassion "Come back in here once you find a good training spot"

Naruto nodded "Sure" he agreed giving Kyuubi a grin "See you in a bit Kyuubi-chan" he waved at her as he faded out of the mindscape bringing himself back into the real world. Pushing himself up of the bed Naruto stretched out his muscles, his legs had fallen asleep whilst he had been talking to Kyuubi, shaking them a bit more to restore full mobility he grinned and headed for the door pausing only to pull his shoes before flying out the door and vaulting onto the roof of his apartment. Pausing on the roof he looked around trying to decide where to go to train, Kyuubi-chan had told him it would have to be far away from the village to avoid anyone detecting her chakra and coming to kill the demon, or causing a panic. Making up his mind he grinned dashing along the rooftops of the village heading towards the Hokage monument.


	5. Chapter 5

It didn't take Naruto too long to reach the location he had in mind, although the vast numbed of steps he had to climb to get to the top of the monument certainly did his time no favours, he grinned as he entered the large forest that backed the village. All he would need to find now would be a clearing to train in then he could get down to business and start his training, wandering through the ever increasing density of trees he searched for any area of open ground that would be big enough to allow for any kind of training Kyuubi-chan had in mind for him. He gave a heavy sigh as after another half an hour of searching the only break in the trees he had found was where a small stream had wound it's way through the forest, and that was useless after all he couldn't train in a stream could he? He growled in frustration his hand clenching into a fist as he struck out at a tree, getting only a throbbing fist for his troubles. 'Naruto' Kyuubi spoke up seeing him about to give up

'Huh? Yeah?' Naruto asked his voice falling from angry to slightly depressed 'I'm sorry I couldn't find anywhere to train, I let you down.'

'No, you did fine' Kyuubi supplied 'We can start your training here.'

Naruto perked up instantly 'Really? But there are trees everywhere.'

Kyuubi nodded 'Yeah, we're going to be working on your chakra control.'

Naruto pouted and frowned 'That's boring' he whined 'I want to learn jutsu!'

Kyuubi giggled 'I know you do but we need to work on your control first otherwise you could end up blowing yourself up or any number of other awful things.'

Naruto frowning and sighed 'Fine I'll do the stupid control training' he pouted and pointed an accusing finger and Kyuubi 'But you have to teach me a really awesome Jutsu next training session.'

Kyuubi giggled harder 'Alright, I'll teach you something good next time' Naruto's face lit up 'if' Kyuubi continued as Naruto's face dropped again 'you do well today.'

Naruto pouted again 'Awwww comon Kyuubi-sensei.'

Kyuubi smiled 'I know you'll do fine so don't worry.'

Naruto gave a small smile 'Thanks.' he said happily 'So what do I do?'

Kyuubi grinned, his reaction was going to be good, 'I want you to climb a tree without using your hands.'

Naruto frowned 'That's impossible! I thought you were going to train me!'

Kyuubi giggled 'It's possible, just send chakra to your feet and use it to stick to the tree.'

Naruto nodded and paused staring at the tree as he focused on his feet a bright blue glow emanating from beneath him 'So I just need to use my chakra to stick to the tree?' he double checked as he lifted his foot.

Kyuubi smiled 'Yeah, that's it; you can do it with any surface even ceiling with practice.'

Naruto grinned this was great, he almost forgave her for not teaching him any new jutsu today, almost, he placed his foot on the tree and pushed the chakra out into the tree bark. There was a bright blue flash and Naruto was blown backwards smashing into another nearby tree with a loud crash; the tree he had tried to climb had a deep imprint in the rough shape of Naruto's foot with several hairline fractures running jagged lines from the imprint. He groaned as he pushed himself away from the tree Kyuubi's chakra running to the multitude of small splinters in his back and arms; pushing the pieces of wood from his body and then sealing the holes "Ugh" Naruto grumbled shaking his head to try and reduce the painful throbbing where it had impacted the tree 'What happened?'

Kyuubi restrained the urge to laugh, she had known Naruto was using too much chakra but she hadn't imagined anything like this happening, 'You used to much chakra.' she explained simply 'Too much and you go flying, just like that, and too little and you won't stick properly. That's why this is such a good way of practicing control.'

Naruto frowned and grumbled as he dusted himself off turning to another, so far undamaged, tree and focusing as little chakra as he could into his feet. This time the glow was softer and much less bright bringing his foot up he placed it on the tree trunk only to be pushed back again; this time there was no flash and his efforts left only a small spider web crack in the bark where his foot had been. He stumbled backwards catching his footing fairly quickly and steadying himself 'You still used too much.' Kyuubi supplied helpfully her voice slightly strained with restrained laughter.

Naruto growled in annoyance 'That was a small amount of chakra!' he exclaimed

Kyuubi shook her head 'No it wasn't it was quite a lot of chakra.'

Naruto frowned 'It was the smallest amount I could bring up.'

Kyuubi sighed, his control was far far worse than she had expected, this was going to be a loooong day.

---------------

Naruto yawned as he woke up blearily glancing at the clock on his side he smiled, he still had an hour until his date with Hinata, not bad considering Kyuubi hadn't decided to call it a night until well after the sun had risen, pushing himself up he rolled off the bed landing on the floor a pained hiss escaping his lips; his training with Kyuubi had apparently left him with both fairly bad chakra burns on his feet and extremely sore muscles in his legs. Although he had to admit the results where impressive; walking over to the wall he focused the chakra at his feet and took two steps up the wall just to make sure he had remembered how to do it. Dropping to the floor he flinched at the pain that accompanied the impact then grinned, the pain was definitely worth the results, 'Hey Kyuubi-chan, you up?' he asked quietly lest he accidentally wake his friend and teacher. He stood still listening intently for any reply and when none was forthcoming he just chuckled and shook his head "Guess not." he mumbled slightly amused "And she wasn't even the one doing the training."

A short while later Naruto stepped out of the shower rubbing the last of the water out of his hair as he wandered back into his bedroom. Opening up his closet he quickly pulled on a pair of boxers, tossing the towel over his shoulder and into the washing basket, he quickly donned a pair of black jeans and a simple black t-shirt, the t-shirt was rather tight since it was a bout a size too small but he simply didn't have the available cash to replace it with something that fitted properly, that done he paused turning on his heels his gaze falling on the familiar orange jacket that rested at the foot of his bed. He paused in thought; he had been told often enough that the jacket was ugly and truth be told he had always found it a little bright for his tastes but he wore it diligently because it was the only connection he had ever had with his parents, apparently he had been left on the doorstep of the orphanage wrapped up in the jacket. Finally deciding that if this was going to be a date then he wanted to look nice for Hinata and wearing a jacket that everyone agreed was awful probably wasn't the way to do that he left the jacket in it's place at the foot of his bed and slipped on his shoes. Glancing again at the clock he found he still had easily thirty minutes to kill before he had to meet up with Hinata and he knew that Ichiraku was only a ten minute run from his apartment. Glancing downwards at his feet he grinned "I guess a little more training couldn't hurt." he muttered before looking up at the ceiling, Kyuubi-chan had said he'd be able to walk on the ceiling so he decided he'd give it a quick go.


	6. Chapter 6

Hinata stood outside Ichiraku's nervously wringing with her hands as she waited for her Naruto-kun to arrive, she was wearing her normal outfit complete with the thick top. She had wanted to come without it but she just couldn't.. the mere thought of all those eyes looking at her body made her skin crawl and her face flush a gentle red. She glanced up at the sun, it was about four, Naruto should be here any moment! Her eyes dropped back down to the street as she scanned for any sign of her crush. Up above them on the rooftops Naruto smiled as he glanced down and saw Hinata, he couldn't believe how much time being able to walk along walls had cut off his journey, he had been sure he would be late, waiting for him. Giving a small relieved sigh, there had been a part of him insisting she wouldn't show up, charging his feet with some chakra he took a step of the side of the building swinging down so he was standing on the wall. A huge grin broke out on his face, he would never get tired of wall walking!, as he strolled down the wall towards Hinata, the girl remaining oblivious to his presence as she continued to search the busy streets for him. "Hey Hinata-chan." Naruto said happily as he reached the ground

Hinata gave a surprised yelp and spun round "O...oh...h...hey.....N...Naruto-k.. Naruto-kun." she greeted him "Wh...when d...did you get here?" her face lighting up at his mere proximity, she immediately noticed he wasn't wearing the orange jacket that had almost become his trademark.

Naruto gave a small chuckle "I took the rooftops." he said rubbing the back of his head

Hinata nodded, feeling more than a little stupid for not even looking there, "W...why? And w..where's y..your jacket?"

Naruto grinned "Eh, you know the way people treat me. If I take the rooftops then I can mostly avoid it." he said dismissively although Hinata could detect the slight darkening of his tone although it immediately picked back up as he continued "As for the jacket" he gave a small smile "I wanted to look nice for you and everyone always says it looks bad so.." he trailed off with a shrug.

Hinata nodded feeling a little week at the knees, Naruto's grin coaxing a small grin onto her own face, "Oh, o..ok." she replied frowning at herself; Naruto-kun had made an effort to look good, he had even forsaken his favourite jacket, for her! And she hadn't even had the courage to get rid of her own jacket!

Hinata's guilt trip was cut short as Naruto smiled grabbing her hand "Let's go inside." he said happily

Hinata's face lit up when she felt Naruto's strong hand wrap around her own "H..h..hai." she agreed

"Why do you stutter so much Hinata-chan?" he asked offhandedly

Hinata froze "S..s.. sorry Naruto-kun." she said sadly, thinking Naruto didn't like her stuttering, "I j..j.. just can..can't help it."

Naruto frowned as he saw her face falling, he recognised that look, she thought he was going to reject her or be mean, doing the only thing he could think of to comfort her he drew her into a hug "I like your stuttering Hinata-chan; and when you blush. It just makes you look cuter." he gave her his best smile. Hinata's face turned a dark red and small squeak escaped her lips, Naruto-kun was hugging her! And he said she was cute! She felt faint her legs buckling slightly as she let Naruto support most of her weight, all too familiar patches of inky blackness encroaching her vision. No! She would not faint! She wouldn't ruin her chance with Naruto! A blush settled on Naruto's cheek as he felt Hinata lean against him for support; the gentle warmth in his stomach seemed to flare and he could feel the same pseudo-hunger he had felt whilst hugging Kyuubi-chan. He slowly, and reluctantly, moved out of the hug; Hinata swayed slightly at the sudden loss of Naruto's support but caught herself before she fell one thought still screaming through her mind as Naruto led her into the stand, Naruto-kun hugged me! Naruto-kun hugged me and I didn't faint!

"Hello welcome to Ich... Oh hey Naruto-chan." Teuchi grinned at his favourite customer "And who's this?" he asked his gaze flicking to Hinata then down to their still joined hands, his grin growing, "Your girlfriend?"

Naruto didn't really understand the concept of girlfriend and boyfriend, no one had ever bothered to explain it to him and having no friends his age meant it never really came up; he knew that was kind of like being best friends with someone, only it had to be a girl, and that most of the boys in his class, with the notable exception of Sasuke, seemed to want one. His face tinged a gentle pink and glanced and Hinata questioningly, Hinata met his gaze for a second before averting her eyes, her face deep red, "I..i..if you want?" she managed to stutter out. Teuchi shook his head slightly, he had seen the flash of confusion in Naruto's eyes when he had mentioned the word girlfriend, the little idiot obviously didn't understand relationships at all; he was making that girls day and he didn't even know it.

Naruto chuckled slightly and grinned "I guess she is then Teuchi-sama." he beamed. A soft thud interrupted Teuchi as Hinata collapsed in a faint, having Naruto say she was his girlfriend proving too much for her to handle. Naruto spun to look at her as he felt her hand go limp "Hinata!" he called out worried.

Teuchi blinked and shook his head "I guess she really wanted to hear that." he chuckled softly

Naruto looked up his eyes full of worry and fear "Hinata-chan's going to be ok won't she?" he asked his tone pleading with him to say she was fine.

Teuchi nodded "Don't worry, she'll be fine. She just fainted, she should wake up in a minute."

Naruto frowned "But why'd she faint! Just randomly fainting can't be good!"

Ayame poked her head out of the kitchen "What's all the commotion?"

Teuchi grinned "Naruto's little girlfriend just fainted."

Ayame's face broke into a massive grin "Naruto-chan has a girlfriend now?" she asked; gently pushing her father aside and peering over the counter at the unconscious girl on the floor "Wow, you got good taste Naruto-chan." she giggled "A Hyuuga?" she added raising an eyebrow slightly; weren't all Hyuuga's supposed to be cold and emotionless?

Naruto grinned slightly "Yeah, Hinata-chan's great! She really nice!" he announced, a soft groan from the girl in question caught his attention and his eyes snapped back to her relief flooding his system "She's waking up!" Hinata groaned as she opened her eyes, the world swimming back into focus, her eyes skimmed other Ayame and Teuchi as before locking onto Naruto, who had a small relieved smile on his face, "You ok Hinata-chan?" he asked gently offering a hand to help her up.

Hinata nodded meekly "Y..yes" she said avoid Naruto's eyes not wanting to see the annoyance and anger that would invariably be there; after all she had ruined their date by fainting.

Naruto's grin grew a little "Good, you worried me for a bit there." he gave a small chuckle as he pulled Hinata to her feet, the sudden movement eliciting a startled squeak from the girl, "So shall we place an order?" he asked flopping down onto his usual stool.

Hinata moved slowly and sat herself down next to Naruto, he wasn't mad? How could he not be mad after she proved her weakness by fainting? "Can I h..have a shrimp ramen please?" she asked giving herself a small pat on the back for almost getting through the entire sentence without stuttering.

Teuchi nodded "Alright then coming right up" he glanced at Ayame "Go start preparing."

Ayame pouted "Buuut tou-san!" she whined sighing when all she got from her father was a glare "Fine." she huffed "But you better fill me in on all the dirt afterwards."

Teuchi chuckled and shook his head "Fine, fine; now go and start preparing the nice girl's food." Ayame nodded and slipped back into the kitchen as Teuchi turned back to face the couple, Naruto had clearly found their exchange rather amusing whilst Hinata's blush had climbed a few notches, "So Naruto-chan what'll you have?"

Hinata stifled a giggle as she heard Teuchi call him Naruto-chan, Naruto grinned "Two miso ramen please" he asked.

Teuchi nodded "Gotcha" he smiled turning to the kitchen "They'll be ready in a bit."

Naruto nodded smiling at Teuchi's back as he relaxed against the table. glancing at Naruto, Hinata noticed for the first time a slight difference in his posture. Normally he was tense and alert, as if ready to defend himself or run at any time, even when he appeared relaxed Hinata could see the same tension there. But here he was totally relaxed, he had dropped all his guards, she met his eyes usually they were bright orbs of determination and energy, but here they where different. She could see happiness, true happiness, in his eyes for the first time along with the determination that had made her fall for him along with what she feverantly hoped was love; but that was tinged with a hardness and pain she had only seen in a few other eyes. She frowned lightly what had he been through to make his eyes like that, maybe it was connected to his constant readiness to fight.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak but Kyuubi spoke up before he could 'Don't ask her about that!'

Naruto frowned slightly 'Why? Just fainting for no reason can't be healthy.'

Kyuubi sighed slightly 'Just trust me asking her ...' a long yawn broke up her sentence informing Naruto that she had probably only recently woken up '..will only embarrass her.' she said adding silently that it would probably also induce another faint.

Naruto gave a small nod 'Oh, ok.' he agreed turning his attention back to Hinata "Hey Hinata." he spoke up.

Hinata jumped slightly as Naruto's voice broke her out of her train of though "Yes?" she replied turning to face him.

Naruto grinned at her "Can you tell me a bit about you." he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, his hand passing over a few of the lumps he had obtained trying to ceiling walk earlier, "I mean I know your really kind and everything but not much else." he admitted silently hoping she would tell him about why she had fainted without him needing to ask and embarrassing her.

Hinata blushed "W..wh..what do y..you w..w..want to know n..n.n.. Naruto-kun?"

Naruto paused for a second before giving her a massive grin "Everything!" he declared happily.


	7. Chapter 7

Hinata blushed, she had no idea where to start, no one had shown a proper interest in her since... well since her mum. "Uuuuum" she mumbled quietly "W..w..well I'm the h..h..Hyuuga heir."

Naruto grinned and shook his head slightly "I want to know about you, not your family." he paused "Like what's your favourite colour or jutsu or things like that."

Hinata's blush climbed a little and she nodded her understanding, taking a few moments to compose herself, she opened her mouth to speak when Teuchi cut across "Hey you two love birds, foods up."

"L.. l..love birds?" Hinata squeaked

Naruto just laughed gently, although a faint pink tinge did take root on his own cheeks, his face breaking into a large grin as Teuchi placed the two bowls of ramen he ordered in front of him "Woo! Ramen!" he shouted happily "Thanks Teuchi-sama."

Hinata nodded "Thanks." she said giving a semi-formal bow; part of her now wondering why Naruto had called him Teuchi-sama, he never called anyone sama! He even referred to the Hokage as old man! She giggled to herself it was probably because Teuchi-san controlled Naruto-kun's ramen consumption.

Teuchi grinned and laughed "Don't mention it, it's my pleasure to cook for you two. Now eat up."

Naruto nodded pulling a pair of chopsticks out of the holder and spinning them around his fingers with a practised ease before separating them and pausing his head bowed slightly "Itadaki-masu" he said reverently before giving a grin and attacking the meal with vigour.

Hinata watched this display with something between amusement and reverence, she had been a little surprised when he remembered to say itadaki-masu she was sure he didn't know anything about table manners from the way he ate at the academy, taking her own pair of chopsticks she gingerly separated them and gave her own quiet "Itadaki-masu" before making her own start on the meal.

Naruto stole glances at Hinata as he shovelled ramen into his mouth, she was eating slowly and gracefully with a dignified air in stark contrast to Naruto's fast undignified method, "You know you don't have to be so formal." Naruto spoke up with a grin

Hinata blushed slightly, she had always been taught to eat like this, the concept of eating like Naruto was almost alien to her "T..t..this is how I.. I..I always eat" she stammered

Naruto raised an eyebrow "Really?" he asked his surprise evident in his tone "You mean you never eat like this?" he asked before shovelling another load of ramen into his mouth with an over exaggerated movement leaving a three noodles dangling out of his mouth for a few seconds before he sucked them in with a grin.

Hinata gave a soft giggle, causing Naruto's grin to widen, if anyone had eaten like that in the Hyuuga house they probably would have been severely punished "No." she said shaking her head slightly.

Naruto's eyes widened "Not even when you're in a hurry?!"

Hinata paused for a second in thought; she almost always left enough time for everything so she was hard pressed to recall when she was last in a hurry and even when she was she ate the same as she was eating now just faster "No." she said finally

Naruto shook his head in disbelief "Wow" he muttered to himself before grinning and looking up at Hinata "Try it."

Hinata gave Naruto an incredulous look "W..w..w..what?!"

Naruto gave her another wide grin "Try eating like that." he repeated "It's fun!" he added after a short pause his grin growing a little more

Hinata blushed; she was taught to always be dignified and controlled and that would be anything but. She glanced at Naruto who was watching her expectantly "I..I..I guess" she finally said softly turning her gaze to the mostly full bowl of ramen. Gently lifting the bowl she brought it up close to her lips and paused for a second taking a deep calming breath before attacking the meal with gusto. A small smile forming, Naruto-kun had been right,this was fun.

Naruto smiled "See it's not that bad is it." he chuckled

Hinata froze, her blush rapidly climbing through the various shades of red, Naruto's voice reminding her where she was and who was watching her pig out on the ramen "S..s..s..sorry." she mumbled putting the bowl down and lowering her head in shame.

Naruto chuckled louder "Nah, don't worry about it Hinata-chan." he waved her apology off "I do it all the time, and anyway you looked like you were enjoying yourself." Hinata nodded softly as though ashamed to admit that she had; it had felt good knowing she was going against her father and her clan's teachings and even better that it had been Naruto who had convinced her to do it. She made a silent vow to herself that from now on she and Naruto would do what they wanted clan and village be damned! Naruto glanced at Hinata "You ok?" he asked worry seeping into his voice.

Hinata glanced at Naruto, his voice snapping her out of her internal rant, her shyness returning at full force "Y..y..yeah" she muttered.

Naruto gave a small sigh of relief "Heh, you kinda zoned out for a bit there."

"S...s..s..sorry." she replied staring at her, now mostly empty, bowl of ramen to avoid looking Naruto in the eyes "I was thinking."

Naruto nodded "About what?"

Hinata blanched; there was no way she could repeat what she had been thinking! Now that her brief moment of confidence had passed she couldn't even believe those thoughts had been her own, they seemed more like something she would expect from Naruto-kun's mouth. "uummmm" she mumbled.

Naruto stopped eating and turned on his stool giving Hinata his full attention "Comon tell me!" he said enthusiastically

Hinata was silent for a moment mentally dredging up all the courage she could her head rising so her eyes met with Naruto's "U..u..u..." she finally managed to get out although it was barely more than a whisper.

Naruto blinked in surprise "Us?" he echoed, Hinata gave a slow nod her blushing once again rising to fever pitch, "What about us?" Naruto enquired.

Part of Hinata was relieved on hearing the confusion evident in Naruto's tone, what if he rejected her feelings? It was probably better that he didn't know. Yes... then they could remain friends, she'd be happy just remaining friends. As long as it meant she could stay by her Naruto-kun! However another part of her wanted to cry. She had finally called up the courage to tell her crush how she felt... kinda and he hadn't understood, it could be years before she was able to pluck up the courage to say it again! "Hinata-chan?... Hinata-chan?.. Hinata-chan?!" Once again Naruto broke her out of her train of thought.

Hinata blinked and shook her head to rid any remnants of those thoughts "Y..y..yes?"

Naruto laughed loudly and gave Hinata a huge grin, her blush rising a shade in response, "Wow, they must've been some really good thoughts for you to zone out again!" he declared happily "Now you have to tell me!"

Hinata flushed and looked down "I..I..I w.w. just happy th..that you're my b...b..b.b..... b..." she gave a soft sigh "..friend" she finished finding herself unable to call Naruto her boyfriend, no matter how much she wanted to; even the thought made a few black patches dance in her vision however she clung to her consciousness desperately determined not to faint again.

Naruto's grin grew a little and a soft red tinge appeared on his cheeks "I'm really glad you're my friend too Hinata-chan." he replied softly a tenderness in his voice that Hinata had never heard before.

Hinata swayed slightly more patches of black flashing in her field of vision she clenched her fists, digging her nails into the soft flesh of her palms, relying on the pain to keep her conscious. She gave him a smile as she turned to finish off her ramen, Naruto having finished off his last bowl a little while back, after a brief debate with herself she picked up the bowl quickly wolfing down the food. Teuchi shook his head and chuckled "Naruto-chan, it seems you've corrupted your little girlfriend with your sloppy eating."


	8. Chapter 8

Hinata gave a startled "Eep!" almost chocking on the last of her ramen as she registered the fact that Teuchi had seen her eating in such an undignified manner.

Naruto gave Teuchi a massive smile "I was just showing Hinata-chan the joys of eating ramen properly!"

Teuchi laughed "She was eating it properly to begin with, you just un-taught her table manners." he retorted his tone betraying his amusement.

A red faced Hinata opened her mouth to apologize to Teuchi for her lack of manners but Naruto cut across her "Hmph, what use are manners anyway!" he responded crossing his arms stubbornly "It's more fun to eat my way, faster too, so what's the problem with it!"

Teuchi shook his head again "Fine, fine. Eat however you want." he said waving the argument off

Naruto's grin grew slightly and he turned to Hinata "Don't worry about it, Teuchi-sama was just being a stick in the mud." he said sending a playful glare at the ramen chef who just gave a small snort of laughter at his favourite customer's antics.

Hinata giggled gently "O..o...ok."

Naruto gave Hinata a quick smile before turning his attention back to Teuchi, his hand dropping to his trouser pocket to retrieve his gama-chan, "So how much do I owe ya?"

Teuchi thought about it for a moment before shaking his head "Don't worry about it, this one's on the house." he gave them both a broad grin

Naruto's face split into a wide grin "Awesome! Thanks a bunch Teuchi-sama! Your the best!" he cried out happily

Hinata bowed as low as the table would allow "Thank you Teuchi-sama." she said politely a small smile on her own face.

Teuchi just smiled "Don't worry about it, it's nice to serve someone with manners for a change." his eyes flicked to Naruto who stuck out his tongue, forcing Hinata to bite back a giggle that threatened to burst from her mouth, "Just promise me you want let the little baka damage your manners any further."

Hinata blushed and nodded "Y..y..yes, I p..p..promise." she mumbled quietly

Teuchi chuckled and nodded "Good, kami knows what we'd do with another Naruto running around."

Naruto suddenly burst out laughing, Hinata and Teuchi turning to look at him, "W..w...what is it N..N...Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked slightly apprehensively

Naruto bit the inside of his cheek trying to stem his chuckles "Sorry, I... just had an image... of Hinata-chan.. dressed like me... with my hair style." his speech was interrupted by small snorts of laughter. Teuchi laughed as the image formed in his head as well, Hinata gave a small squeak as she attempted to withdrew into her coat her cheeks burning with a heavy blush. Naruto, once he had calmed down enough to allow coherent speech, turned to Hinata "Hey, Hinata-chan, you ok?" he asked a little worried he had hurt her feelings.

Hinata nodded softly softly "Y...y..y...yes" she mumbled

Naruto paused for a second "Hey, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings or anything. Forgive me?"

Hinata felt her face heating up further as she realised how close their faces, and more importantly their lips, where. She gave a slow nod "y..y..yes."

Naruto smiled "Great!" he exclaimed happily before pausing "So are you coming out of your coat?" Hinata gave a meek nod straightening up, although part of her wanted to say no just to see what Naruto did. Naruto stood up and stretched giving a small satisfied grunt as he cracked his back "Walk you home?" he offered.

Hinata gave an enthusiastic nod "Please!" she squeaked happily sliding off the stool and walking over to Naruto.

Naruto smiled at Hinata and thought about it for a second before reaching down to take her hand, Hinata giving a small yelp and stumbling slightly as Naruto took her hand. As they stepped outside Hinata noticed Naruto's posture change as he slipped back into his guarded state, the happiness and emotion in his eyes appeared to dim somewhat, Hinata however could still make most of them out but she couldn't see any hints of the pain she had seen there in his unguarded moments. Teuchi watched the pair walking off down the street and chuckled shaking his head "If Naruto really doesn't know she likes him then he's more of a baka than I thought." he mumbled to himself before turning and heading into the back of the store giving a small sigh as he remembered he would have to tell his daughter exactly what happened during Naruto's... date.

----------

Naruto and Hinata soon found themselves outside the Hyuuga manor, too soon in both of their opinions, Naruto gave her a small honest smile letting go of her hand "Goodbye, I guess." he offered not really sure what to do or say.

Hinata nodded glancing down at her hand that was still tingling from Naruto's touch "I r.r...r.r..really enjoyed myself t..t.t..today." she said softly her head bowed slightly in a futile attempt to hide the blush that had been gracing her cheeks the entire trip home.

Naruto gave her another, larger, grin "Yeah, I had a lot of fun too." he replied "We should hang out more often Hinata-chan!"

Hinata saw Naruto's eyes return to their unguarded state as they talked; it made her knees weak to know that Naruto considered her someone he could drop his guard around, especially since as far as she knew there were only two other people who saw him like that. "Y..y.y..yes." she agreed gently not daring to think this could actually be happening, it all just seemed so unreal.

Naruto nodded "Ok, I guess I'll see you at school Monday?" Hinata nodded the affirmative a serene little smile on her face. They stood there for a few seconds in an awkward silence neither really knowing what to do, Naruto finally moved forward and drew Hinata into a hug.

Hinata stiffened in his arms for a second, a small squeak escaping her lips, before relaxing with a content sigh "Oh Naruto-kun." she mumbled to herself.

Naruto gave a soft chuckle as he heard her squeezing her gently he smiled "Well I guess this really is goodbye then Hinata-chan." he said

Hinata nodded swaying slightly on her feet, the familiar patches of darkness haunting her vision, "G..g...g..goodbye Naruto-kun." she said tenderly. Naruto nodded slowly unwrapping his arms from around Hinata, reluctant to end the close contact, giving her another small smile as he turned to leave. Hinata stood there for a second "Wait!" she suddenly blurted out.

Naruto turned around to face her "Yes?"

Hinata blushed heavily her surge of confidence failing as her eyes met Naruto she took a few small steps to close the gap between them, her blush growing all the while, Naruto watched her with interest wondering what she was going to do or say. Hinata's blush reached fever pitch as she leant forward, desperately calling on all her courage, giving Naruto a quick kiss on the cheek before turning and rushing into the Hyuuga complex, and promptly fainting on the lawn. Naruto's face lit up with a blush that almost rivalled Hinata's as his hand raised to touch the cheek she had kissed "She kissed me." he mumbled to himself. It took Naruto about a minute to snap out of his daze, and get the mad blush on his cheeks under control, a soft smile etched onto his features as he made his way back to his house.


	9. Chapter 9

Hinata groaned as she pushed herself up off the grass, raising to her feet, a gentle frown on her features; how did I end up unconscious on the grass? She pondered, it was a few seconds later when the answer hit her, her face immediately lighting up as she stumbled almost ending up face first on the lawn once again. That's right! I.. I.. I kissed Naruto-kun! Admittedly it had been on the cheek rather than the lips as she had originally intended but nevertheless she had kissed him! A happy squeal fought to escape her throat but she forced it back knowing that such a show of emotion would be frowned upon, doubly so since she was the Hyuuga heir. Walking inside she made her way to her room in a pseudo daze before collapsing onto her bed and hugging her pillow tightly to her chest "Naruto-kun" she sighed wistfully squeezing the pillow harder.

-------

Naruto kicked the front door closed behind him, the silly smile still stuck on his face, 'So.. have a good date?' Kyuubi spoke up.

Naruto jumped at the sound of her voice, he had almost forgotten she was there! 'Yeah.' he replied happily. Flopping down onto the couch he shut his eyes finding himself almost immediately in his mindscape, he frowned to himself, wasn't getting here supposed to be harder than this? Shrugging it off he decided to ask Kyuubi-chan. This time the gates were just around the corner, barely a minutes walk, again he frowned it appeared that he was both getting here more easily and getting better at appearing where he wanted to; while these things where not bad Naruto still wanted to know why it was happening. "Hey Kyuubi-chan!" he declared happily waving to her as he walked through the bars.

Kyuubi smiled happily "Good afternoon Naruto-sama." she replied "So how did that date go? I want all the dirt!"

Naruto frowned, his confusion over the ease with which he arrived disappearing, "But you should know.. can't you like see my memories and stuff?"

Kyuubi giggled softly "Yes, I can." she replied "But I limited my link with you once I woke up a realised you were on a date, I also wasn't going to look at those memories unless you gave me specific permission."

Naruto nodded "Oh.." he muttered confusion evident in his tone

Kyuubi shook her head and laughed "I didn't want to intrude in your time with Hinata-san, it's between you and her. Although I did keep a little of the link up so I knew when the date was over or if you got into trouble I would have been able to help."

Naruto nodded and gave her a genuine smile "Thanks." he said walking forward and giving Kyuubi an, all too brief, hug.

Kyuubi gave Naruto a serene smile "It's no problem." she assured him gently "So how did the date go?"

Naruto's face split back into the huge grin he had been wearing when he got home "It went awesome! Hinata-chan is really nice!" Kyuubi nodded glad that Naruto was happy with Hinata, he definitely deserved the happiness, "And she.." Naruto continued before trailing off a light blush on his cheeks as he averted his eyes from Kyuubi's to try and hide his embarrassment.

Kyuubi leant forward eagerly, if it got Naruto of all people to blush then she had to know! "What did she do?!" she demanded a little more forcefully than she had intended but her excitement had gotten the better of her.

Naruto backed off slightly a look of fear flashing through his eyes before he reigned it in, he knew Kyuubi-chan wouldn't hurt him but her tone of voice had reminded him of things he would much rather forget, he took a moment to make sure his voice would be purged on any hint of the fear that had coursed through him a moment ago before replying "Well..." he mumbled at first "..she kissed me." he said bluntly the faint blush reappearing on his cheeks, along with a small smile, as he said it.

Kyuubi gave a small internal awww but the prankster in her just wouldn't let this oppertunity pass by "On the lips?" she questioned, honestly she hadn't expected the shy girl to do anything like this, Naruto must've had a big affect on her.

Naruto went a deep red "What?" he spluttered

Kyuubi tired to hold back her her laughter but ultimately failed, her laughter refusing to be subdued as it burst from her lips, Naruto's reaction was just priceless! "I'll take that as a no?" she added with a slight smirk gracing her features.

Naruto shook his head vigorously "No! She didn't." he confirmed "Just on the cheek." he added as an afterthought in a calmer tone.

Kyuubi nodded although her smirk grew slightly "Still; I didn't think she had it in her. She must really like you to do that."

Naruto grinned "Of course she likes me! We're friends!"

Kyuubi gave a small sigh "No, not like, but more like like like. You know the difference between like and like right?"

Naruto's blank look was really all the answer Kyuubi needed "Huh?" he muttered "That makes no sense, like means like? Doesn't it?"

Kyuubi gave another sigh; she really didn't want to explain this kind of thing to Naruto, there had to be another way! A small evil grin formed on her face as she made a plan "Hmm I know how you can learn the difference."

Naruto perked up "How?!" he asked energetically

Kyuubi's grin grew slightly "Alright just go to the book store and get one of each of the books by Jiraya."

Naruto frowned "Aww reading? That's booooring" he pouted

Kyuubi giggled "Trust me these books aren't.... Oh! And the shop keeper probably won't sell them to you so you also get to practice stealth."

Naruto's face dropped slightly, he assumed that he wouldn't be sold them because of Kyuubi-chan, but perked up as she continued "Ok, so I'll go get the books now?"

Kyuubi shrugged "Go when you feel you're ready but come back in here once you get home with the books."

Naruto nodded and grinned "Alright a mission! I won't let you down Kyuubi-chan! See you in a bit!" he gave pulled Kyuubi into a quick hug before giving her another big grin and fading from view.

Kyuubi watched his figure disappear with a soft smirk on her face, oh yes this was certainly be fun!


	10. Chapter 10

Naruto stretched slightly as he his mind returned to the physical world, for some reason his limbs were always a bit stiff after talking to Kyuubi-chan, "So what do I have to work with." he mumbled to himself taking a mental inventory of what he had; he could use the henge but his one broke at the slightest provocation, his kawarimi was perhaps the only jutsu he could do well, his bunshin were appalling and he knew it, he could also wall walk after Kyuubi-chan's training the other day, as for ninja tools he had four smoke bombs and a pack of shuriken. He also had a few storage scrolls for food, the old man had given them to him so he could keep his food fresh after the fridge _broke_. A soft frown furrowed his brow as he sat down to try and work out exactly how he was going to do this, calling up all his experience from pranks and all his cunning, he supposed he could have just asked Kyuubi-chan but he wanted to make her proud of him.

------

Naruto had a small smile on his face as he walked into the book store; most of the people in the store giving him hate or disgust filled glares and a few were talking at him but he brushed them off, he was on a mission and he wouldn't let them break his concentration. Inwardly he smiled, last night whilst he had been sleeping Kyuubi had drawn him into the seal and taught him the importance of being able to ignore emotions when on a mission, this was his first attempt at trying it but his years of experience concealing his true emotions made this come naturally to the young ninja in training. Looking around he located a shelf with the books he was supposed to get on, scanning his eyes along them he counted eighteen books in total. A small satisfied grin grew on his face, the single storage scroll he had decided to bring should be enough to hold them. Turning around he left the shop his small smile still in place, the books were all nice and close together. He walked around the streets for a few minutes before making his way back towards the store to carry out his plan.

He stood a short distance from the door and took a small calming breath palming a smoke bomb in one hand and a rock in the other. With a small grin he put his plan into action tossing the rock at the bookcase he knew contained the Icha-Icha books shortly followed by the smoke bomb. There was a yell as the smoke bomb went off, the thick particles providing Naruto with the veil he needed to carry out his plan. By the time the smoke had cleared Naruto was already heading for home a, now almost full, storage scroll under one arm; the only evidence he had been in the store at all was a stone lying on the floor near the bookcase of Icha-Icha books. Naruto laughed happily as he vaulted along the rooftops, occasionally using his chakra to slow down, change direction, or ascend higher, his plan had gone perfectly 'I got the books.' he declared happily

'Good going, so how'd you do it?' Kyuubi responded Naruto's grin growing tenfold as he heard the hint of pride he had been paring for in her voice.

Naruto paused sitting on a rooftop in the shadow of a chimney 'Well I threw a rock in along with a smoke bomb for cover, then kawarimied with the rock to get near the books, I grabbed a few books before kawariming back outside using the stone.' he had a small grin on his face proud that his plan had worked 'I basically just repeated that until I had all the books you told me to get.' Kyuubi smiled to herself, Naruto might be a little dense sometimes.. well most of the time, but he definitely possessed a great deal of cunning and he thought outside the box. 'So do you still want me to come in and see you when I get home?' he added and he stood up and took off again.

Kyuubi nodded a soft smile on her face, feeling a little silly as she once again reminded herself Naruto couldn't see her, 'Yes' she said tenderly 'I like being with you and though we can talk like this it's not the same.' she confessed, if Naruto could of seen her eyes he would have spotted the spark of hope in them along with love and a little, badly concealed, lust.

Naruto's face wore an almost serene grin as the warm sensation he still couldn't place danced through his body 'I know what you mean.' he said pulling a face 'It's much nicer to talk to you in person, cause then I can see your face!' he declared happily.

Kyuubi fought a loosing battle with a blush as she heard that 'Thanks' she said her voice gentle and surprisingly soft.

'So anyway,' Naruto spoke up 'what exactly's in these books anyway?' he asked patting the scroll absently 'And why'd you say they'd be fun to read?'

Kyuubi bit back the giggles that rose from her throat, fearing they would give her away, 'If I told you it would spoil the surprise now wouldn't it?' she pointed out

Naruto frowned 'But I hate surprises.' he whined 'Tell me now.' in his experience surprises where never ever a good thing, and more often than not ended up with him in a hospital; if it weren't for the fact that Kyuubi was sealed inside him he certainly wouldn't have continued unless he was certain she meant him no harm.

Kyuubi almost winced at his response, she understood perfectly why he didn't like surprises, 'Just trust me ok.' she said tenderly, almost pleadingly.

Naruto nodded 'I do trust you Kyuubi-chan.' he replied his voice low but full of conviction 'Don't ever think I don't.. it's just it's hard... you know.. after everything that's happened.' he sighed frowning at himself; couldn't he say it better than that!

Kyuubi's face split into a small smile 'Thanks, and don't worry I understand.' there was a slight pause before she continued 'after all I saw it all.' she continued silently adding; and I caused it all.

Naruto gave a small frustrated sigh, he had heard the guilt in her tone even if she hadn't voiced it, he'd told her before, it wasn't her fault! Why did she continue to blame herself?! He just couldn't work it out. His brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to unravel that puzzle, his body following the route home more or less on autopilot his conscious mind only intervening when he realised he could take short cuts by utilising his new-found wall walking abilities.


	11. Chapter 11

Naruto sighed as he sat on his sofa, despite thinking about it the whole way home he was still no closer to working out why Kyuubi-chan seemed to blame herself for the villagers' actions. It just made no sense, anyone with half a brain should have realised the fault lay with the villagers not with her. He gave another frustrated sigh filing it as a girl thing and returning his attention to the scroll of books he had dumped next to him on the sofa 'So you going to let me know why these books are interesting?' the was a long pause as Naruto listened for a response. When none was forth coming he shook his head "Well there's one way to find out" he muttered to himself putting a hand on the sealing scroll and releasing the books with a short burst of chakra.

Leaning back against the sofa, a small contented sigh escaping his lips as he did so, Naruto grabbed a book from the pile at random and inspected the cover with a raised eyebrow. The title: Icha Icha Paradise; Steamy love was displayed in large font whilst beneath it there was the image of two people, both heavily chibified, one woman whose modesty was retained only by a towel wrapped loosely around her body running from a muscular man, who was also garbed only in a towel. Naruto's brow crinkled, this book looked familiar somehow, after a moments thought he remembered spotting it in the old man's office on a few occasions along with other books from this series. Well if the old man read it then these then they might be able to help him become Hokage! With that thought he eagerly opened the book and started reading, his enthusiasm quickly faded however, and he sighed; yes, yes there are lots of girls in the onsen he mused but does there need to be a long description of each of them? He snorted; he knew what girls looked like, he wasn't blind, and anyway how was this going to help him deal with Hinata? And what exactly was it he was supposed to realise about having a girlfriend?

Shaking himself from his thoughts he sighed and reapplied his attention to the book as he read a soft blush appeared on his cheek which grew stronger as he continued. He couldn't believe how much there was to kissing and hugging! He turned the page once more and froze his eyes widening as his blush increased tenfold 'Ero-kitsune!' he screamed accusingly, throwing the book away as if burnt, and pointing a finger at the air in front of him. The only reply he got was the raucous laughter echoing around his head and a strange tug on his mind; which he was in no position to resist. He felt his consciousness fading and his vision went dark for a second before Kyuubi's cage faded into view, Kyuubi was leaning against a wall for support laughing "You.. should.. have seen your face." she gasped between her laughs.

Naruto frowned "You gave me porn you perv!" he yelled

Kyuubi grinned "You seemed to enjoy it." she replied forcing down her laughter with some effort

"I did not!" Naruto yelled defensively

Kyuubi smirked softly "Oh really?" she asked her eyes flicking to his crotch just long enough to be noticeable before lifting back to his face "I think you did."

Naruto blanched clamping his hands over his crotch and looking down to find that there was no tent in his trousers or anything to betray the little part of him that had enjoyed those books, the sound of Kyuubi's renewed laughter cut across his thoughts. He looked up and glared at her "Baka-hentai!"

Kyuubi's response was almost totally illegible through her laughter "You.... only if... proves... enjoyed..." was all Naruto managed to decipher

Naruto frowned softly trying to maintain his anger against the smile that threatened to form on his face; he always did appreciate a good prank even if he was the target of it. Besides the book hadn't been entirely unhelpful; he had a better idea of more intimate hugs and kisses, although he didn't feel he was ready to use any of this knowledge yet. "You know this means war." he said offhandedly

Kyuubi smirked softly "I live in you, what are you going to do to me?" she responded clearly amused

Naruto gave her a scheming grin "You forget whose head this is, I can control reality in here." he concentrated for a second and a bucket of water materialised floating in the air just above Kyuubi's head.

Kyuubi looked up "You wouldn't." she said simply

Naruto's grin grew larger "Wouldn't I?" he asked as another two buckets appeared

Kyuubi knew a loosing battle when she saw it "Alright! Alright, I give. Truce?" so offered a hand to Naruto.

Naruto gave a silent sigh of relief, a prank war with a being inside his head would probably quickly get him thrown in the loony bin, "Alright truce." he agreed shaking her had and giving her a small smile

Kyuubi grinned "So what are you going to do with those books now you know what they are?" she asked with something halfway between amusement and honest curiosity.

Naruto went silent as he thought before grinning "I'll probably read them anyway." he finally announced.

Kyuubi giggled "Oh? And why would you do that?"

Naruto shrugged "They might actually be helpful in the long run." he answered "Besides I went through all that trouble to get them I'm not just going to throw them away."

Kyuubi gave a low grin "So you do like them then?" she asked

Naruto flushed softly "I guess." he replied "They were ok, I can see why the old man might read them."

Kyuubi smirked "The Hokage? I bet he just reads them because he's to old to get any." she chuckled

Naruto pulled a face "Well thanks for that mental image." he said sarcastically; even with the limited information of the first few paragraphs of the scene he had read he still really, really, _really_, didn't want to think about the Hokage doing _that_!

Kyuubi giggled harder "I aim to please."

Naruto shook his head to try and clear his head of the lingering images, with only moderate success, "Well anyway.. can we do some more training?!"

Kyuubi giggled happily "Sure, why not." she agreed "What do you want to learn?"

Naruto grinned like Christmas had come early; "I want to learn to walk on ceilings!" he announced

Kyuubi grinned "Sure, it's not that hard."

Naruto frowned "It is hard" he rubbed his head feeling the lumps from that morning "and I've got the bumps to prove it."

Kyuubi just giggled "Don't worry, you'll definitely be able to do it by the time you go to bed." she gave him a grin that promised suffering.

Naruto shivered "Oh boy" he mumbled quietly to himself.

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Hey everyone; just wanted to say thanks for all the favs, alerts and especially the reveiws; you guys are awsome ^^


	12. Chapter 12

Naruto yawned as he wandered around his bedroom, his body more or less working on it's own, slowly pulling on his clothes for school 'Remember not to give away your extra training.' Kyuubi reminded.

Naruto blinked slowly "Huh? What?" he mumbled blearily

Kyuubi gave a gentle giggle 'Oi!' she shouted 'Wake up!'

Naruto jumped dropping his jacket to the floor his hand getting halfway to the kunai holster on his ankle before it stopped. 'Oh.' he mumbled 'It's just you Kyuubi-chan.' he took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves 'You scared me.' he stated bluntly

Kyuubi giggled 'I could tell.' she pointed out clearly amused 'You should've been alert.'

Naruto growled in frustration 'I would have been but you ran me into the ground with your training yesterday.' he retorted hotly

Kyuubi just shook her head 'You think that was bad?' she asked rhetorically 'I haven't even started yet.'

Naruto gave a soft groan; his limbs still ached, even with Kyuubi-chan's healing factor, 'So what were you saying?' he asked

'Huh? Oh right!' Kyuubi had been distracted by planning how she was going to tor.. train Naruto 'I was telling you to hide the results of our training. Don't show anyone what you can do.'

Naruto frowned 'Hide what?!' he questioned 'I didn't even learn any new jutsu!'

Kyuubi smirked 'No but you did learn how to wall walk even with my distractions'

"Distractions?!" Naruto yelled incredulously "You recited those damn pervy books!"

Kyuubi giggled 'So it served it's purpose and you got to learn a bit about girls at the same time.' her face twisted into a smirk as Naruto's face lit up with a blush 'You can also ceiling walk without falling too often.' she smirked gently basking in the memories of Naruto's impacts with the floor. 'And on top of all that you started some physical training and I taught you how to enhance senses with chakra.'

Naruto nodded 'So I shouldn't walk on walls or ceilings? Or enhance any senses?' he asked

Kyuubi thought about it for a second 'Don't show your improved chakra control if you can help it, I'll agree with not wall or ceiling walking but I want you to enhance your senses of hearing and sight.' she said

Naruto frowned 'Alright; but why do you want me to enhance them? I thought you wanted me to keep it a secret?'

Kyuubi nodded 'I do; try not to act on your improved senses. However this way we can work on you chakra control throughout the day and hopefully you can get to a point where you can keep all your senses enhanced pretty much permanently.'

Naruto nodded 'Oh.. that makes sense.' he agreed softly before smiling 'Thanks for all the training Kyuubi-chan.'

Kyuubi waved his thanks off feigning indifference 'It's my pleasure.' she replied

Naruto nodded 'Can I learn a jutsu tonight? Just one.. pleaaaaaaase?'

Kyuubi giggled and sighed in resignation 'Alright; but just one for now. You really, really need much better chakra control to use any jutsu well.'

Naruto had a huge grin on his face, he had heard nothing after her agreement, 'Wooooo!' he wooped happily 'You're the best!' he announced.

Kyuubi smiled his praise always brought a gentle warm feeling that rolled across her chest, 'Alright enhance your senses.' she instructed.

Naruto nodded pushing the chakra into his ears and eyes, the world suddenly coming into much sharper focus and his hearing suddenly sharpening and improving, he frowned a little; the exact level of his hearing and sight was fluctuating and the effect made him feel a little nauseous. He had been able to maintain one improved sense at a stable and manageable level throughout his physical training last night but maintaining two was proving to be much harder. He waited thirty seconds but the effect didn't lessen unless he focused on evening it out 'Don't worry about it.' Kyuubi cut in 'It should go away once your body gets used to maintaining two senses at this level, just head off to school.'

Naruto nodded slowly, this was going to get annoying very quickly if it didn't sort itself out like Kyuubi-chan said it would, 'Alright, how long do you think that will take?' he asked as he stepped outside and began his journey to school.

'I don't really know, it's different for everyone but given your level of chakra and the effect of my youki I would guess four hours of so.' Kyuubi replied nonchalantly.

Naruto gave a loud groan 'I think you like seeing me suffer.' he mumbled

Kyuubi grinned 'and if I do?' she asked her voice brimming with over emphasised curiosity

Naruto shook his head and chuckled under his breath conceding this round to Kyuubi-chan, although she _did_ have thousands of years more experience than him so it was a little bit of an unfair fight 'So? What jutsu are you going to teach me?' he asked after a moment of silence

Kyuubi suppressed a giggle, she had been waiting for him to ask that inevitable question, 'Well. I'm not really sure that it has a name but it's perfect for you; there are no hand signs....' she paused 'hmmm no hand signs; that's an idea.' she muttered

'What?' Naruto asked impatiently

'No.. nothing just a theory for tonight.' she replied 'anyway where was I?... oh yeah; there are no hand signs and no control is necessary it's just pure brute force. Very destructive and very simple I'm sure you'll like it.' she giggled softly

Naruto beamed 'It sounds awesome!' he declared happily there was a pause 'Hey! Wait! Were you insulting me?!'

There was another pause 'No.' Kyuubi replied her voice dripping with sweetness and innocence.

Naruto frowned 'You where!' he shot back as he landed in the academy groups and wandered inside; almost totally oblivious to the world as he bantered with Kyuubi.

'Was not.' Kyuubi replied

'Were too!' Naruto accused

'Not!'

'Were!'

'Not!'

'Were!'

'Were!'

'Not!... Wait dammit!' Naruto grumbled as he stepped into the classroom "Stupid damn fox." he muttered angrily. Slightly surprised to find his enhanced senses were still in place despite the argument with Kyuubi completely sidetracking him, although the nauseous feeling that accompanied them was less welcome.


	13. Chapter 13

Naruto took a few steps towards the seat next to Sakura purely on force of habit before he stopped and turned walking over to Hinata and sitting next to her with a large grin "Hey." he declared happily forcing a blush off his cheeks as choice segments of the Icha Icha series decided to pop into his head, much to his horror and Kyuubi's amusement.

Hinata gave a small squeak, how could she look him in the eyes after kissing him at the end of their date?! "H..h..h..hey." she responded

Naruto leant towards Hinata "Want to go on another date sometime this week?" he asked enthusiastically a faint pinkish tinge finding it's way to his cheeks, this time he had a fair idea what a date was.

"Yes!" Hinata replied immediately, Naruto-kun wanted another date! Even with her fainting last time he was going to give her another chance! She swore to herself she wouldn't mess this one up!

Naruto leant forward and pulled Hinata into a quick hug chuckling gently as he heard a quiet "eep." from his girlfriend. He blushed, had Hinata known what she was saying and what it meant when she agreed to that?

"Ummm Hinata-chan?" he asked a little hesitantly, he couldn't understand why the thought of her turning him down filled him with dread however, with the ease of years of practice, he kept his voice light hearted.

Naruto's voice sounded odd to Hinata, it was a tone she had heard many times before, he used it all the time around town and during school. But now she had had seen him in a more unguarded moment it sounded.. wrong to her, false even. She couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly was the problem but she knew there was something wrong. "W...w...what is it N...N....Naruto-k..k..kun?"

Naruto took a small breath before continuing "When you agreed to be me girlfriend you did know what that meant? Didn't you?" he asked dropping his voice to a low whisper because Iruka had started teaching.

Hinata's face lit up with a gentle blush "Y...y..yes." she replied cautiously, her mind working frantically to try and work out why he had asked, "W..w..why?" she stuttered out once she was unable to find a sensible answer.

Naruto caught the huge sigh of relief before it escaped his lips, his smile shifted slightly becoming more real rather than the pseudo smile that he usually had plastered on his face, "Why?" he echoed her last question to himself.

Hinata, thinking he had misheard her, nodded "Yes, w..w..why did y.. want to k..k..know?" she repeated, taking note that whatever had been wrong with his voice before seemed to be gone now.

Naruto's brow furrowed in thought; Hinata blushed slightly harder, Naruto-kun was cute when he was thinking... well he was cute all the time. "Well I... I guess... You just...." Naruto frowned trying, and failing to articulate his feelings for Hinata, "Well you could do so much better than me!" he blurted out a little louder than he had intended attracting the attention of a few people sitting around them, although if Iruka heard him he didn't show it. Naruto frowned gently as he picked up the faint whispers of the people who had heard his outburst, at least he picked up the fractured pieces of the whispered conversations as his hearing frequently dipped under the level required to hear it; dammit! He cursed himself, if people found out they were dating then they might start to hate her too! He glanced worriedly at Hinata, who was in an almost trance like state as she struggled to comprehend Naruto's words, he had it backwards! He was too good for her not the other way round!

There was a heavy pause Naruto watching Hinata out of the corner of his eyes; he honestly didn't know what to hope for. On the one hand he knew Hinata could do better and he wanted her to be happy, no matter what, so shouldn't he want her to find the guy who could make her the happiest? But then he also desperately wanted her to say she would stay with him, cold terror gripped his heart at the thought of her leaving, he didn't know what he would do if she left. They hadn't really been friends or anything for very long but she was already irreplaceable to Naruto felt that if she left his world would just fall apart. He had to suppress a sigh as he realised he really didn't know exactly what he wanted.. well no that was a lie; he wanted to be able to reconcile both making Hinata as happy as she could be and keeping them as a couple.

Hinata gave Naruto an incredulous look "You're too good for me?" she hissed quietly her surprise clearly evident in her tone.

Naruto nodded "Yeah, of course you are. You're like the heir of the Hyuuga's and really nice and pretty and everything." he gave Hinata a large smile as she struggled against the fast approaching blackness of unconsciousness her hands balled into fists as she once again resorted to pain to keep her mind from shutting down "And look at me; I'm an orphan, a total nobody, I'm nowhere near what you deserve Hinata-chan!" His voice held no sadness as he put himself down, repeating back just a very select few of the insults that had rained upon him since before he could remember, Hinata however could hear that he had reverted back to that... wrong smile and tone.

Frowning she shook her head vehemently "No! I.. I'm n..not too good f..f..for you!" she said determined to put him straight, how could he think so little of himself?! "Y..y..y..you're t..too good for m..m..m..me."

Naruto blinked in surprise Hinata response leaving him incapable of making anything other than a few odd strangled noises for a second or two before he found his voice "What do you mean? I know your better than me." he insisted

Hinata shook her head "a..a..am not." she didn't want to argue with Naruto but he had to understand how she saw him!

"Are too!"

"N..n..not."

"Are too!"

"N...not."

This exchange continued for roughly a minute both of them slowly gaining volume and Hinata's stutter slowly fading as she got more and more into the argument, a fact that caught Naruto's curiosity.

"Too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"Not!"

Iruka's coughing broke up their argument "Hinata, I'm surprised at you. I'd expect this kind of thing from Naruto but not you." he reprimanded "This is your only warning so don't let me catch you talking again." he shot Naruto a glare to show he was serious but felt a verbal warning would be enough to placate Hinata who had turned deep red the moment she realised she had shouted her response to Naruto.


	14. Chapter 14

Naruto stifled his giggles as Iruka went back to teaching "Hey Hinata-chan?" he asked dropping his voice back down to a soft whisper. Kyuubi-chan had told him not to ask about her fainting but he couldn't remember her telling him not to ask about her stuttering and for Naruto that was as good as explicit permission.

Hinata's eyes flicked to Iruka for a second as though afraid he could somehow sense she was going to talk to Naruto again "Yes?" she asked hesitantly her eyes constantly flicking to Iruka as she replied.

Naruto sensed her nervousness and gave a quiet chuckle "Don't worry about Iruka-sensei. He definitely won't be able to hear us if he can't hear Ino-san arguing with Sakura-san about Sasuke-teme's favourite food."

Hinata's brow furrowed as she strained her ears picking up nothing more than very faint whispers from the girls vague direction "Wow, you m..m..must ha..h..have awesome h...hea..hearing Naruto-k..kun."

'What part of don't act on your enhanced senses didn't you understand.' Kyuubi sighed shaking her head softly.

Naruto smiled at Hinata and gave another little chuckle rubbing the back of his head, a very faint pinkish hue on his cheeks, "I guess I do." he replied a little sheepishly 'I'm sorry, I just kinda forgot besides are you listening to them! It's hilarious!' he blinked in surprise as he realised something; he had heard the entire conversation! His hearing had levelled out now! His sigh was still a little blurry however but hey he was improving!

"W..wh..wh..what is it?" Hinata asked curious as to why Naruto had had a surprised expression on his face a moment ago.

Naruto paused "What's what?" he asked confused, in his head Kyuubi gave a soft sigh and shook her head. She had seen the suspicious glances from Iruka the previous day so she was trying to keep contact in public to a minimum at least until Naruto could disguise the fact they were talking.

"You l..l..looked sur..su..surprised a second a..." Hinata explained

Crap! Not good! Not good! Naruto panicked; what do I tell her? Sorry I was just talking to my demon? "Ah sorry." he said chuckling nervously "Sakura-san just said something weird." he grinned; oh yeah I'm a genius!

Kyuubi giggled 'Sure you are.' she replied 'Oh and you can't see but I'm rolling my eyes.' she added after a brief pause.

Naruto gave a small huff "Stupid smart ass fox." he grumbled although his tone lacked any real venom, secretly he relished the challenge of trying to beat Kyuubi-chan at her own game and these little exchanges where great fun. Not that he'd ever let her know that!

'I'm a vixen, not a fox.' Kyuubi pointed out helpfully. Naruto gave a subdued growl before turning his attention back to Hinata, at least _she_ was nice to him! 'Love you too.' Kyuubi responded her smirk evident in her tone.

Hinata nodded "Oh." she mumbled "Ummm w..w..what where y..y..you going to as..a..ask me?"

Naruto took a moment to recompose himself before replying "I was wondering why you stutter all the time." he said noticing Hinata's face falling he leaned forward "It's not that I don't like it!" he whispered frantically "I'm just curious because when we were arguing you stopped stuttering completely." he had assumed it was some kind of disability or disease or something, he had even entertained the idea she was allergic to him, although the old man had informed him that that wasn't the case, but now he wanted to know what the real cause was.

Hinata blushed and averted her eyes staring intently at her desk "Ummmmm" she mumbled quietly "I..I....I..I.. ummm well...." she just couldn't manage to force the reason out; and part of her really didn't want to tell Naruto-kun anyway, she wouldn't dump her own weakness and problems on him.

Naruto gave a soft grin "You don't want to tell me?" he asked, he understood perfectly the reasons why she would withhold the information from him but unfortunately that just made him want to find out more.

Hinata gave a small sigh of relief at Naruto's understanding, her relief tinged with surprise that Naruto seemed to understand her emotions perfectly, "S..s..so..sorry" she said bowing her head further.

Naruto waved her apology off "Don't worry about it, you can tell me whenever you're ready." he said "Sorry if I made you think of something sad or painful." he added after a brief pause to consider the things that he kept to himself, well between himself and Kyuubi-chan he amended.

'That's better.' Kyuubi said happily

'Well I can't exactly stop you learning something now can I?' Naruto responded

Kyuubi paused 'You can, I thought I taught you how already.'

'Wait! What?! I can?' Naruto exclaimed barely catching the words before they burst from his lips

'Yes, you just need to.... actually I'll teach you after school.' Kyuubi changed her mind reminding herself that any conversation much longer than this one would probably attract some very unwanted attention.

'Why?! Comon, teach me now! Pleasssssssssse?' Naruto whined petulantly

Kyuubi shook her head 'Talk to me after school and I'll explain why I can't teach you now.'

Naruto frowned softly 'Fine.' he huffed; he hated waiting! It was sooooo boring!

Hinata gave Naruto a gentle smile 'Thank you.' she whispered softly and tenderly.

Naruto's cheeks lit up with a soft blush; that gentle tender tone made his heart skip a beat and the ever present butterflies in his stomach decide to go into overdrive. He gave a soft sigh his attention drifting across the classroom, as he listened in to various conversations, before finally settling on Iruka. He and Hinata shared a few glances that left Naruto's cheeks a gentle pink and Hinata's various shades of deep red as they sat for the rest of the lesson in a comfortable silence merely basking in each other's presence. Kyuubi gave a soft smile pleased at how Naruto and Hinata's relationship was going a soft blush appeared on her face as those thoughts inevitably lead to thoughts about Naruto and herself dating and other more.. intimate activities. She frowned softly to herself; Hinata would have to be eased into the idea of sharing Naruto so that when she got out of this stupid seal, she glared at the iron bars of the cage, she could quickly take up her place at his side. She sat down leaning back and sighed, she would need to come up with a plan to ease Hinata into sharing and probably convince Naruto to put it into action... her face split into a small grin, this would be interesting.


	15. Chapter 15

Hey everyone; can anyone point me in the direction of a good website for translating names of jutsu and kekkei genkai into japanese? I've had a look but I can't find anything. If you know japanese and would be willing to translate for me as well that would be really appreciated. I thank you in advance and hope you enjoy this chapter

* * *

The rest of the school day passed fairly quickly, Naruto and Hinata holding quiet conversations. Often started by Naruto asking Hinata to clarify something for him, after all he had two or so years of slacking off and prejudiced teachers to make up for. Although Hinata's responses were always accompanied by a nervous glance at Iruka, something Naruto found slightly amusing, he could never really figure out what was so bad about detention. Naruto's eyesight had finally decided to level out about half an hour before the end of school, his victory yell had interrupted Iruka's retelling of Zabuza's attempt to overthrow the Mizukage and almost netted him a detention.

Kyuubi spent this time slowly running through the possibilities in her mind; if could convince Naruto to be nice to Ino then she had no doubt the blonde girl would ask him out fairly quickly, her outgoing nature and obvious lust for attention would ensure that outcome. However she doubted Hinata would accept Naruto going out with another girl merely because he was asked; the idea would have to be put forward without another girl in the equation. She briefly entertained the idea of Naruto bringing the idea of sharing up as a hypothetical before putting the plan of _seducing_ Ino into action but that idea had been discarded as it would look far to suspicious and planned. She knew Hinata would be willing to overlook a lot of things because she loved Naruto but there was no way she would overlook something that blatant.

This was the point Kyuubi's thoughts were at as Naruto exited the academy, a slight blush still lingering from the goodbye hug he had given Hinata; the poor girl had looked almost drunk as she had begun her own trip home. Kyuubi gave a growl of annoyance; she needed some way of making it seem the sharing idea was brought up by a third party. Preferably making it look like a surprise to Naruto too, that way the subject could be brought up and discussed in advance without any major suspicion. 'What is it Kyuubi-chan?' Naruto inquired curious as to the annoyed growl he had heard from his tenant.

Kyuubi had to take a moment to snap out of her thoughts before replying 'Oh nothing, just thinking. That's all.' she replied smoothly

Naruto gave a small nod 'Oh, what about? You sounded annoyed by something.'

Kyuubi was caught slightly off guard, she hadn't expected Naruto to be able to read her emotions that easily, 'Ah.. well, it's a bit silly.' she paused for a second as if a little bashful 'I just miss having a real body every so often.' she came up with a quick lie, well pseudo-lie her lack of any real body was never that far from her mind, with an ease and smoothness that only came with practice.

Kyuubi immediately regretted her choice of words however as Naruto's face fell his pace slowing to a crawl 'I'm sorry.' he said softly 'I'm really, really sorry.'

Kyuubi gave another growl of annoyance, this one directed at herself, now she had gone and dumped another burden on Naruto's conscious. Of course she still couldn't understand how he could think he was the one who needed to apologize but she would deal with his little martyr complex later 'Don't worry about it.' she reassured 'I'm sure we can think of something later.' she really wanted to give him a reassuring grin but wouldn't risk pulling him into his mindscape whilst he was jumping between rooftops.

Naruto nodded forcing the sadness down and adding it to the ball of hurt along with all the other pain and sadness he had repressed or forced aside in his fairly short life; he heard the slightly depressed edge in Kyuubi-chan's voice. If he made her sad by being sad then he wouldn't let her see him sad! 'So what's this jutsu you're going to teach me!' he declared forcing his mind onto a more happy and productive line of thought.

Kyuubi giggled 'What makes you think I'll tell you any more than I did this morning? Besides you'll be learning it in a little while so be patient.'

Naruto frowned and pouted picking up his pace as he reached and began to ascend the Hokage monument steps 'But patient is boooooring.'

Kyuubi giggled a little harder, she definitely agreed with Naruto's blunt assessment, waiting for things really did suck; doubly so if you knew they would be good 'I know it is, but it's still something you have to learn.'

Naruto gave a small nod 'Also; why did my sight take so much longer to level out than my hearing?'

Kyuubi smiled 'Oh that's easy. You enhanced your hearing last night so your body was more used to having that sense enhanced. That meant your chakra settled much quicker than it did in your eyes.'

His question answered Naruto lapsed into silence, his mind focusing on how to give Kyuubi-chan a body again. Kyuubi was also scheming and quickly recovered her chain of thought from before; there was only one thing that fit the criteria she had found herself with and the was somehow invoking the Clan Restoration Act. She smiled to herself, if she could get it invoked then it would work perfectly for her purposes as well as allowing Naruto to marry both her and Hinata. However there were some significant hurdles she had to overcome to get that law invoked; she had to either prove Naruto was the last member of a clan with enough significance to warrant saving or Naruto had to have a k_ekkei genkai_ and he had to awaken it; preferably both because then the council's hand would be more or less forced in favour of the CRA. She supposed they were both possible, after all Naruto was an orphan so his parents could have been anybody, however she really doubted he had a kekkei genkai of any kind. With all he had been through coupled with her influence if he possessed any such ability it should have long since awakened and the notable absence of any special ability that couldn't be traced back to her spoke volumes against such a scenario. She gave a gentle sigh, she would have to have a good dig through Naruto's earliest memories in search of his lineage and pray to kami that it was someone worthy enough to warrant evoking that law.


	16. Chapter 16

I want to thank everyone for their advice on translation sights I think I've got the name done - Gijime or False eye. If anyone can give me a better name that has rougly the same meaning then I#d be grateful if not it shall stay as stated.

* * *

Naruto quickly found the spot he had trained the previous night; the number of tree he had knocked down trying to learn to stick himself to surfaces with chakra making locating it easy. 'Ok I'm back where I was before.' he announced.

Kyuubi nodded 'Hmm you're going to be using quite a bit of my youki tonight so we should probably be putting more distance between us and the town.'

Naruto nodded 'Oh.. What is youki anyway?'

'Youki is what I have instead of chakra, it's that red energy you were calling on towards the end of our last major training session.' Kyuubi replied giggling gently to herself; Naruto's control had been, and still was, bad enough that he could empty his monstrous chakra reserves in just a few hours of tree walking. It had definitely improved through their training Kyuubi knew that much but honestly that wasn't saying much.

Naruto paled slightly 'That stuff hurt!' he yelled, it had felt like someone was burning his feet from the inside whilst he had been using that strange energy.

Kyuubi nodded 'And that's why you need to use more.' she declared with an air of finality that went straight over Naruto's head

'What do you mean! How can it hurting be a good thing!' he snapped calling on his anger to quell the feeling of betrayal that was threatening to shatter his composure.

Kyuubi gave a small sigh 'My youki is incredibly powerful, however it is also incredibly dangerous to humans. Since I'm sealed inside you you've been in contact with a tiny trickle of youki throughout your life and therefore you have some resistance to it. Otherwise the amount you used probably would have killed you and definitely would have rendered your legs unusable.'

'Then why the hell do you want me to use it!' Naruto screamed 'You just want to hurt me like the rest of them!' the feeling of betrayal coupled with the strange tearing sensation in his heart shattering the mask he usually used to hold back his negative emotions and paranoia.

Kyuubi gasped tears springing unbidden to her eyes 'No!' she exclaimed desperately 'I want you to use it because I want to keep you safe! I would never _never_ hurt you! I couldn't! I love you!' Kyuubi screamed back her mental voice sounding strained as though it would break at the lightest touch 'If you continue to use my youki you can acclimate yourself to it bit by bit and eventually you'll be able to use it without hurting yourself! Do you have any idea how powerful you would be if you could utilise youki that way!' she finished her explanation in a slightly softer, but still urgent voice, her tone pleading with Naruto to understand and trust her again.

Naruto was stunned into silence by Kyuubi's emotional outburst tears sliding from his eyes, the first coherent thought he managed was I'm an idiot. 'No you're not.' Kyuubi growled her vision flashing red as she screamed silent curses at the village that had done this to such an innocent soul. At that moment she wanted nothing more than too level Konoha and everyone in it; with three, maybe four, exceptions; she wasn't really sure whether or not Iruka had earnt her mercy, he might just be helping Naruto because it was his job not through any real apathy for the child.

'Kyuubi-chan.' Naruto's soft, barely audible, whisper pulled Kyuubi off her destructive train of thoughts the red veil receding but still dancing on the edges of her vision as though taunting her with the knowledge that with one slip she would once again be pulled under and rendered a being of pure destruction and malice.

'Yes?' she replied equally softly

'I'm sorry.' he said clenching his fists he was absolutely furious with himself, the hurt in her tone had been so clear when he had accused her of betrayal! He had broken his promise and had hurt one of his precious people! And he had done it on purpose! 'I didn't mean it.. it's just... I just...'

Kyuubi shook her head vehemently, although Naruto couldn't see the gesture, 'It's ok.' she reassured him tenderly 'I understand, you don't need to apologize.'

Naruto gave the tiniest of nods and seemed to be about to reply before pausing and shaking his head; there was a pregnant pause before he spoke up again 'Did you mean it?' he asked his voice sounding more vulnerable than Kyuubi had ever heard it before; it was the first time she had heard him sounding like the abused child he was.

'Mean what?' Kyuubi questioned she didn't know exactly what he was asking and she was damned if she would answer such an obviously important question without knowing exactly what he was asking.

Naruto took a deep breath forcing as much emotion as he could back under his mask and inside where it belonged "When you said you loved me." he clarified his voice much stronger than before but still sounding far more vulnerable than he would have liked.

Kyuubi's face jumped up to a heavy blush as she gently pulled at Naruto's mind willing him to join her in his mindscape; a pull that Naruto did nothing to resist knowing what it meant. Naruto's body slumped against a tree as his conciseness left, Naruto materialised right outside the bars of Kyuubi's seal and slipped through the bars after a second of getting his bearings he quickly spotted Kyuubi who was standing a little distance away her face a deep red much to Naruto's surprise, he hadn't pegged her as one who would blush that much, "So... did you mean it?" he asked once again mentally berating himself for the emotion in his voice; he wanted to be sure this was her decision and not affected by his wants and desires!

Kyuubi took a step forward her body shrinking so she was the same height as Naruto, a sight that Naruto found to be slightly unnerving, "I did mean it.' she said gently the volume of her voice belying the weight of emotion it carried "I love you Naruto Uzumaki." she leant forward and gave Naruto a soft kiss her lips brushing against his.

Naruto kissed back on pure instinct everything felt slightly numb as one thought echoed through his head; she loves me! Someone actually loves me!

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Sorry for this chapter being slightly shorter than normal but this was such a perfect chapter break i couldn't help myself. The question now is will they ever actually get round to training; hope you enjoyed reading


	17. Chapter 17

Kyuubi broke the kiss their lips separating but staying mere inches apart as Kyuubi gazed into his eyes waiting for a reply from her blonde carrier; she would have been tempted to giggle at the shock written on his face were she not aware of the abuse that had caused it.

Naruto spluttered struggling for words managing only the odd nonsensical sound as he stared into Kyuubi's eyes once again tears blurred his vision only this time they were tears of happiness finally giving up on words he darted forward pulling Kyuubi into a deep hug and his lips reconnecting with hers in a desperate bid to ensure she was really there although Naruto's innocence and no small amount of restraint on Kyuubi's part kept it fairly chaste. Taking a few deep breaths Naruto finally managed to regain his composure and gave her a beaming smile his eyes still shining with tears "I love you too Kyuubi-chan." he said all traces of his previous sadness now thoroughly exterminated from his tone "And thank you.. for everything and again I'm really sorry for ever doubting you." He paused and gave a slightly rueful chuckle "I seem to be saying sorry a lot at the moment."

Kyuubi blushed softly and gave Naruto a reassuring smile in return "Don't worry, it's already forgotten." she replied tenderly; she really wanted to peruse her relationship with Naruto further but seeing that her host was still dazed she decided to give Naruto some time to recover mentally and adjust to the idea that someone loved him, as sad and angry as it made her that he even had to make this transition, before pushing their boundaries. "So how about you get back to your body and we return to training?" she suggested with a soft, slightly scheming, grin knowing and exploiting his weakness for training and jutsu.

Naruto gave a nod and a grin "Yeah! Let's get back to training! I got an awesome new jutsu to learn!" he announced exuberantly pausing for a second before hugging Kyuubi-chan tightly and, after another pause, giving her another little kiss. Pulling away his cheeks tinged a soft pink Naruto gave Kyuubi a broad honest smile "Oh yeah, and before I go!" he muttered to himself now grinning like a madman "Wait here for a sec." he said rushing back towards the bars of the seal and slipping out. Observing the bars critically he quickly located the piece of paper that had the kanji for seal inscribed on it, around halfway up the gate and easily three times Naruto's hight off the ground, the kanji inscribed on the paper pulsed slowly with an almost serene blue light "Ah there you are." he muttered to himself.

"What are you doing?" Kyuubi asked observing Naruto worriedly, please say Naruto-sama isn't planning what I think he is she prayed silently.

Naruto gave a conspiratorial giggle "It's a secret!" he announced as he gazed up at the seal, how am I going to reach it all the way up there? He mused.

Kyuubi giggled "Just tell me what your planning." she insisted

Naruto, in his excitement, didn't hear the fear and worry that had edged into her voice he appeared to consider his reply for a second before grinning "If I told you it wouldn't be a secret." he turned his attention back to the seal and frowned, he needed to be able to reach the stupid thing! Naruto was surprised for a second as the seal began to slide down the bars towards him, although the surprise was quickly quashed as he reminded himself he was in his head.

Naruto's grin was at full force as the seal finally came to a stop in front of him "Hey! Wait! What are you doing?!" Kyuubi yelled frantically

Naruto frowned in confusion as he reached out "You said you wanted to be free, so I'm setting you free." he stated as if it were the simplest thing in the world. He turned his attention back to the seal grabbing one edge.

"Noooooo! Wait!" Kyuubi screamed dashing towards the blonde, however she was too late and Naruto gave the seal a sharp tug. He was finally going to free Kyuubi-chan! Then the pain hit. It flooded all his senses he was vaguely aware of hearing someone screaming, was it him? All he knew was searing agony it was as though he was being burnt from inside and out at the same moment. The pain intensified further and for a moment all Naruto knew was absolute agony, then he knew nothing.

* * *

Hey everyone, I just want to let you know that I am doing thing a bit differently to most harem fics; I will not be posting a list of the harem members at any point. Mainly this is to keep suspense and you will not know what girl will be joing and which girl's won't be. It also means I can change my mind as often as I like without much consequence (although I have a fair idea of who's going to be in the harem now along with how each girl will join.) If you really must know if a specific girl is in the harem or not feel free to PM me or ask in reveiw and if you really want a girl added and can find a good reason for her joing feel free to let me know as well. For similar reasons I will also not be warning before lemons or graphic fight scenes: neither at the beginning of the chapter nor during it. Mainly because I feel it spoils suspense and breaks flow. I apologize in advance if you read anything that offends you but I clearly stated that it was M for lemons and violence so I feel fair warning has been given. Anyway my little rant/warning aside I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will enjoy the chapters to come; untill next time.


	18. Chapter 18

Naruto's eyes fluttered open slowly his vision swimming for a moment before the night sky came into focus "What happened." he groaned pushing himself up; every muscles in his body was aching and his head felt like it was being squeezed in a vice. Suddenly realisation struck "Kyuubi-chan!" he gasped frantically whirling around to try and locate her grimacing as the sudden movement exacerbated the pain in his head. His worry mounted "Kyuubi-chan!" he cried out desperately "Where are you?!"

'Still in here.' Came the reply from Kyuubi; her voice sounded slightly distorted making it impossible for Naruto to pick out her emotions and he could hear a steady crackling reminiscent of radio static in the background.

Naruto frowned "Dammit!" he swore 'I thought I broke the stupid seal; you should be free! Why are you still trapped in there?!' he paused for a second before adding 'And what's with your voice?'

There was another small pause before Kyuubi responded 'You didn't destroy the seal. You only did a little damage before blacking out but you did enough to destabilize it; the seal was unravelling itself so I had to repair it. As for why we're getting static, distortion and delays in communication..' she paused for a second considering how to word the response since she doubted Naruto would really understand much of the reason 'well put simply the seal was the medium for our communication and since it's damage our link also suffered.' she offered.

Naruto however heard nothing past her admitting she had fixed the seal 'Why!' he screamed 'I thought you wanted to be free! So why'd you fix the damn seal!'

The emotions in Kyuubi's response were lost to the damaged seal 'Because you would have died if I didn't.'

'So! You're the only person who'd care! I'd gladly give my life so you could be free!' Naruto's response stunned Kyuubi into silence momentarily.

'I'm not the only person who'd care.' she responded softly 'What about Hinata! Or Ayame! Or Teuchi!'

Naruto paused for a second before nodding slowly the realisation that there were people would actually mourn his passing, however short the list may have been, hitting him like a ton of bricks 'But you're still trapped; I _will_ get you free!' he responded his voice full of conviction 'And if my life is what it takes then so be it!'

'No!' Kyuubi responded sharply 'I won't allow it! I want to be free but it's not worth loosing you!'

Naruto froze his argument stopped in his tracks as Kyuubi's response took all the wind from his sails; tears sprung unbidden to his eyes "Thank you." he mumbled softly his chest heaving with silent sobs. He had never in a million years even dared hoped he would mean this much to someone. He closed his eyes and tried to join Kyuubi in his mindscape, wanting to be with the one who he loved and who loved him back, but he was repelled by some invisible barrier 'Why can't I come into the mindscape?' he asked a little bit of panic entering his voice; he finally had someone to love and now he couldn't see her or be with her! He tried a few more times in quick succession in the few seconds in took for Kyuubi's scratchy response to filter through the link each failed attempt causing the terror he felt to rise.

'I'm stopping you from coming in.' Kyuubi said 'I'm sorry but you can't come into your mindscape at the moment, I let you know as soon as it's safe.'

Naruto's brow crinkled in confusion even as the sigh of relief left his mouth, the terror draining out to be replaced with confusion, 'What do you mean as soon as it's safe?' he queried his heart leaping back into his mouth as he considered what she could mean 'You're okay aren't you?!'

Kyuubi giggled softly at his worry 'Yes, I'm fine don't worry.' she said a small sigh of frustration escaping her lips 'The seal suffered extensive damage before I could stabilize it, and right now it's only barely holding together.' there was another sigh 'I think that if your soul joined mine in here it would over burden the seal and it was begin unravelling again.'

'Oh.' Naruto responded blankly 'So does that mean I won't be able to see you again?' he asked keeping his panic carefully hidden, not that he needed too with the bad connection making their voices more or less unreadable.

Kyuubi considered the question for a second 'No I think I will be able to strengthen the seal again given a few hours to work on it. We should be able to meet up again tomorrow morning... hopefully.'

Naruto's face lit up 'Great!' he announced enthusiastically 'So why did pulling on the seal hurt so much?' his body shivered phantom pain assaulting his nerves at the memory.

'It was my youki.' Kyuubi explained 'The seal normally slowly filters it into your chakra system, your normal chakra is about 1% youki. This is also the reason your reserves are so large.'

Naruto frowned 'What? How would that make my chakra reserves larger. And what does this have to do with the pain?'

Kyuubi sighed 'You really need to know the differences between chakra and youki for that.' she paused for a second before adding 'I'll explain later.' pre-empting Naruto's request 'As for why you felt pain, you broke the seal. Imagine it like the seal is a damn and you put a hole in it.'

Naruto's eyes widened 'So I got a load of youki at once?' he questioned

Kyuubi grinned and nodded 'Yeah, you got almost half a tails worth in under 10 seconds before I managed to stop the flow. I managed to purge most of it from your system before it could do any major damage but there's still a good amount left.' silently Kyuubi was thanking her lucky stars that they had been far enough away from the village that no-one had noticed the spike in her Youki, or at least if they noticed they hadn't come to investigate 'I'd imagine you're currently working at around 5 or 6 percent youki.' she paused for a second before continuing 'That's why your body is aching at the moment, your chakra is poisoning you from the inside out.'

"What!" Naruto yelled

'Just do some training.' Kyuubi interrupted Naruto 'If you work all the youki out of your system you should be fine. It'll be the first time your muscles hurt less after training than they did before hand.' she joked attempting to lighten the mood a little.

Naruto nodded 'So what should I do?' he asked a shadow of a grin gracing his lips

'Tree climbing of course.' Kyuubi responded 'Try to find the very minimum amount needed to climb up the tree. Oh and be careful you have quite a bit more chakra than you did before I would hate for you to fall on your ass like last time.' although he couldn't hear it in her voice Naruto just knew that last bit had been sarcastic. He nodded in acceptance, he couldn't have that much extra chakra after all she had said what; half a tail of youki? And she had nine tails in total so half a tail wouldn't be that much. Of course this logic fell apart when he once again found himself launched from the tree he had attempted to climb by his foot. Landing in a tangled, cursing heap a few feet away he observed the impressive crater his feet had left in the tree and tried to figure out exactly how much more chakra he had.


	19. Chapter 19

Naruto had managed to adjust to the extra chakra in his system by the time he had managed to work off excess youki however his control had suffered and he hadn't been able to climb a tree without leaving deep footprints in his wake. Kyuubi had been almost totally silent as he had trained her focus on reconstructing and reinforcing the seal to make it as safe as possible. His training done Naruto made his way wearily back towards his apartment, every one of his limbs aching gently as a result of both his workout and the lingering affects of Kyuubi's youki. As soon as he got inside he stripped off his jacket, laying it almost reverently on his desk, and kicked off his sandles and trousers before collapsing into his bed with a contented sigh. Naruto quickly fell asleep although without Kyuubi pulling him into the seal he quickly found himself caught in the throes of one of his more prolific nightmares.

Kyuubi's face twisted into a frown as she sensed Naruto's distress; on the one hand Naruto was suffering and Kyuubi desperately wanted to protect him from suffering any more than he already had but the fact that she could sense this emotion was a good thing, it proved that her repairs where working and the seal was regaining it's functionality and integrity even if it was rather slapdash in places. She closed her eyes and concentrated on thoughts that calmed her hoping that her modifications had allowed Naruto to sense her emotions; sure enough after about a minute she felt Naruto's psyche relax the nightmare receding, for now. Giving a small satisfied nod Kyuubi turned her attention back to the seal, it would only need a little more reinforcement to support Naruto's soul as well as hers, the damage hadn't been quite as bad as she had initially feared.

Kyuubi quickly finished fixing the seal, it was definitely not as strong as it had once been and she could almost definitely force her way out if she so desired but it was perfect for the circumstances. She smiled proud of what she had achieved with the minimal resources available, although she would definitely have to warn Naruto about letting anybody who might know seals see his chest since even an amateur would see how little actually held the whole thing together at this point. She paused for a moment unable to decide what she should do; she wanted to talk, amongst other things, with Naruto and the seal was now safe for her to bring him in but on the other hand this was the perfect time to sift through his memories to see of she can make any progress with her scheme to put Naruto under the CRA. She finally decided that she could talk to Naruto any time, and she would see him in the morning for sure, but a perfect opportunity to search Naruto's memories without alerting him probably wouldn't present itself again for a long time.

Her mind made up she quickly made her way to his memory bank looking down the corridor undaunted by the seemingly endless array of doors that rand along both walls; she never really enjoyed prying through peoples minds, she preferred a more direct approach to bend people to her will, but that didn't mean she had no experience at it. She closed her eyes concentrating on the words Naruto's Mother, hoping that would be enough to locate some memories. Normally you knew what you were looking for and this process was much easier however she didn't even have a name for Naruto's parents and the memories were among Naruto's earliest making it even harder to call them up. She slowly opened her eyes seeing doors whipping past her in a blur although there was no sound to accompany the motion, millions of doors blurred past in a few seconds before they suddenly snapped to a complete stop, and still making no noise. Rather than the endless corridor of doors Kyuubi found herself with four solid doors flanked by twenty or so other doors that appeared almost totally insubstantial like a hologram or projection of a door rather than a solid object. Kyuubi smiled softly as she observed her options; the solid doors represented perfectly clear memories whereas the shimmering incorporeal doors showed the memory was fragmented, incomplete or damaged in some way. She honestly hadn't expected to see even one solid door and to see four was incredible, however something was quite clearly wrong here, the worse condition a memory was in the less solid the doors looked and the options here appeared to split into totally ruined or perfectly fine. A frustrated growl escaped her lips, normally memories would decay with time unless they were something the person held close to their heart but Naruto couldn't even remember his mother so they couldn't be cherished memories of her. That left the obvious question of what exactly they were memories of. She sighed "Well only one way to find out" she muttered moving forward she grabbed the handle of the first door to her left and found herself back when she had first met Naruto. A small shiver ran down her spine as she entered the memory experiencing everything from Naruto's body; no matter how many times you visit memories you never quite get over the overwhelming feeling of wrongness that comes with experiencing everything from inside somebody else's body. She watched their first meeting again from Naruto's point of view her face lighting up up and a tender warmth spreading through her body as she realised Naruto had adopted her as a kind of mother figure; he had never truly been alone he had had her! She had watched over him and kept him safe just like a mum would! She left the memory at that point blushing softly and feeling as though she had violated his trust in some way just by seeing that memory.

Finding herself back in the corridor she regarded the other three doors carefully she was honoured that Naruto thought of her as his mum and agreed with his reasoning to an extent; but with this new information she wondered if these other three doors would be memories of her as well rather than his biological mother. Shrugging it aside she tried the next door along, the corridor disappeared in a whorl of black and she found herself in Naruto's memory of last night. She left almost immediately a pleased smile fighting with an annoyed frown; she needed information on Naruto biological mother not his memories of her, as heart warming as they were. Letting the corridor swim into focus again he turned to the two doors on her right; she wasn't going to risk entering the damaged memories at this point. Any experienced mind walker will tell you that you could become trapped in such a memory or even find your mind damaged in some way, it was considered a rule to avoid any memory that was more than 30% damaged and from the condition of Naruto's doors the memories they had contained where totally trashed.

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I'm sorry the plot is a bit slow at the moment; it will pick up once I get it rolling but right now I'm just getting all the peices in place and trying to ensure that everything plays out the way I want it too without feeling forced.


	20. Chapter 20

Naruto slipped out of bed and stretched yawning softly chuckling to himself as he realised he had fallen asleep in his clothes. Quickly shedding the clothing and throwing it into the washing basket he opened his cupboard and pulled out another outfit quickly getting dressed. Naruto was halfway through breakfast when he remembered Kyuubi telling him that the seal should be fixed by now his face split into a wide grin and he quickly wolfed down the rest of his, slightly stale, cereal. The meal devoured he threw himself onto the couch and concentrated on his mindscape finding himself pulled in almost immediately. A beaming Naruto walked swiftly down the corridor towards the seal, absolutely ecstatic he could see Kyuubi-chan again, as the bars loomed his quick pace slowed to a crawl and a tiny gasp slipped out his lips. The once great bars where shattered and broken huge cracks running across them, some bars where snapped in half or missing sections and the entire structure was bound with long reams of paper filled with kanji written in blood, the paper pulsing red with Kyuubi's youki and at the very centre surrounded by four much more complex seals was the dilapidated remains of the original seal it looked almost charred and instead of the strong blue pulse Naruto had seen before was merely giving off a feeble blue glow flickering as though it could go out any moment. His breath caught in his throat, was that Kyuubi-chan's blood?!

He continued forward slowly afraid of what he might find beyond the seal ducking under one of the lengths of paper wary of touching the youki infused seals both because he might break them and because the youki could cause him pain. Once inside the seal he quickly located Kyuubi lying on the ground, curled up, sleeping peacefully a small serene smile took root on Naruto's face and he stood there watched her sleep for a little while drinking in her proximity. However this peaceful smile faded, to be replaced with a frown, as he thought about the conditions Kyuubi had to live in; it wasn't right! She was too nice to have to live like this! At the very least she deserved a bed! In response to his mini-rant the floor beneath Kyuubi's sleeping from writhed and bubbled slowly rising up, somehow flowing whilst retaining it's solidity, and forming a rough bed shape. Naruto blinked in surprise his frown turning into a broad grin he closed his eyes and focused harder on the bed; the stony material of the bed frame shifting and a pattern not unlike wood grain fading into view as the colour slowly shifted to the light brown of polished wood, at the same time the rest of the material began to slowly shift from a dark grey to a soft beige, a cross hatching pattern forming across the material, and it got softer Kyuubi's form sinking slightly into the newly formed mattress. Another quick bout of concentration yielded some sheets to cover the girl's sleeping form. Observing the results of his discovery Naruto's beamed "Hey Kyuubi-chan! Good morning!" he said enthusiastically wanting to share what he could do with her.

Kyuubi yawned and stretched as Naruto's instant calls slowly roused her she placed a hand on the mattress and froze, when did the floor get so soft? It was stone wasn't it? She pressed down on the new mattress again her eyes snapping open as she sat up sharply throwing the duvet off, her sudden movement scaring Naruto and making him jump back on reflex. Kyuubi spent a few seconds just staring at the bed "What?" she muttered aloud her confusion evident

Naruto's chuckles caught her attention bringing her mind off the puzzle of the bed for a second "You like it?" Naruto asked "I made it myself." he added proudly

Kyuubi swung round to sit on the edge of the bed "You really made this?" she asked

"Yeah." Naruto nodded

Kyuubi gave Naruto her warmest smile "Thanks, it's great." she said, although the bed wasn't fancy she recognised Naruto had probably never seen an expensive bed and it was a huge improvement over the stone cold floor. Even the small praise and recognition of his ability made Naruto light up "So how did you make it?" Kyuubi added

"Well I just thought you shouldn't be sleeping on the floor and it kinda happened." Naruto chuckled "It's weird because before I could only do really simple things but that was really easy."

Kyuubi nodded her eyes flicking to the seal's bars for a second "Hmmm I think the seal was preventing you affecting your mindscape." she offered "Although I never saw anything that suggested it was doing so." she added speaking to herself more than Naruto by this point "I guess that part of the seal must have completely unravelled before I got to it."

Naruto frowned "Why would they stop me changing my mindscape? What's the point in that?" he questioned

Kyuubi considered it for a few seconds "Well two reasons spring to mind. They might have been worried I would be able to mould your mindscape in the same manner you can; after all none of them really knew the exact mechanics or results of sealing a bijuu. It could also have been done because they feared if you could affect your mindscape it would be easier for me to trick you into letting me out." She giggled "Not that it really stopped you from almost freeing me last night."

Naruto gave a sheepish chuckle and shrugged "They obviously didn't expect me to take the obvious route."

Kyuubi nodded giggling a little harder "Well I'm kind of glad you did." she said "I mean I hate that you got hurt but it allowed me to make some nice changes to the seal."

Naruto nodded "What changes?" he questioned sitting on the bed next to Kyuubi, surprised to find the mattress was comfortable even though it looked right he still knew it had been naught but a piece of stone a little while ago.

Kyuubi smiled "Hmm well I made the emotion link reciprocal as well as allowing us to cut the link at any time." she began

"Reciprocal?" Naruto asked

Kyuubi shook her head and gave a small sigh "I can feel your emotions and you can feel mine; however both of us now have the ability to shut the link off if we want." Naruto gave a small nod of understanding so she continued "I also slightly accelerated the rate Youki is leaked into your system, because you are slowly acclimatising to it this will speed up the growth of your chakra reserves. Every time your body can handle it I will turn up the speed. I also made it easier for you to draw on my Youki and for you to control the amount of my power you use; the old seal wasn't designed for you to use my power so it was hindering rather than helping." she grinned at Naruto "That means you will have a much easier time learning demonic jutsu."

Naruto beamed back "Awesome, I can't wait to start training!"

"Now Naruto-sama I need to give you a warning." Kyuubi said her voice now deadly serious,Naruto gulped and nodded "Whatever you do don't let anyone see your new seal. You can show Hinata when she's ready to find out about me but make her promise not to tell anyone before you do."

Naruto nodded "Ok." he agreed "I promise I won't let anyone else see the seal."

Kyuubi nodded her serious air vanishing as soon as she had Naruto's word "Good." she grinned softly "Oh and Naruto I've got a gift for you."


	21. Chapter 21

Naruto's grin grew exponentially "Really?! Cool! What is it?!" he asked bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Kyuubi appeared to falter for a second before replying "Follow me." she turned and walked towards a door, now fading into view, in the wall; Naruto frowned as he spotted the door, how could he have missed it? After a brief moment of berating himself for his lack of observation skills Naruto followed Kyuubi through the door. He found himself in a room, at least he thought it was a room, he could see a wall behind him and another in front of him with a single door set into it; however where the other two walls of the room should have been there was nothing but blackness that seemed to stretch off into infinity it sent shivers down Naruto's spine just looking into that endless stretch of inky blackness. Kyuubi walked across the room seemingly unaffected by the abyss as she stood next to the other door "Go in there." Naruto nodded walking across the room as well his eyes flicking constantly to the darkness as though afraid it would suddenly envelop him. Kyuubi, easily picking up on his nervousness, gave him a reassuring smile "Don't worry about the black, it can't do anything to you." Although Naruto was still sceptical about exactly how safe this darkness was he trusted Kyuubi and nodded again speeding up.

Once he was at the door Naruto paused his hand on the handle "Aren't you coming in?" he asked

Kyuubi shook her head "No, I'll be right here though for when you come out."

Naruto nodded frowning softly as he tried to deduce what his gift could be, pausing and laughing at himself after a second. He only needed to open the door to find out, why was he still standing here trying to guess what it was? He wrapped his hand around the door handle and yanked the door open eagerly, as the door opened he felt a.. pull? On his mind not unlike what he felt when Kyuubi pulled him into the mindscape. He stopped fighting the tug and suddenly the room he was standing in shifted and warped before fading to blackness.

The blackness lifted and Naruto found himself in the arms of a giant? No the person was just an adult and he was tiny. He tried to move but found whatever body he was in appeared to be moving of it's own accord and he had no control over it; panic flitted through his mind overlaying the strange soothing sensation he felt at being held. The body he was in looked down and his mind reeled in shock from what he saw; he was looking down at a baby's body, a babies body with a Shisho Fuin seal on it's stomach. His seal! He was looking at his own body as an infant! And yet despite being surprised by this he still felt a strange sense of deja vu. Something clicked in Naruto head; this was his memory! That was the only explanation that could explain this. The ninja holding him ducked through a window into a half lit room walking over Naruto still held firmly in his arms he knelt before a woman. His baby self locked it's eyes onto the woman and held out it's arms reaching for her letting Naruto take in her appearance; she seemed ragged and tired but her bright blue eyes burned with a fire faintly reminiscent of his own she was wearing a simple white hospital gown her red hair ruffled and unkempt. Naruto felt drawn to that woman somehow he frowned slightly, at least he would have had he had control over the body, finding it difficult to untangle his own thoughts from those of his baby self. "The sealing was a success." the ninja holding him informed the woman solemnly. Naruto recognised the voice of the one holding him but couldn't quite place it; he wished he could just turn his face to see that man's face.

The woman nodded slowly "So does that mean...." Naruto guessed the person holding him nodded as the sadness became just that little more prominent but no tears fell she held the look of one who would mourn in secret with no-one around to witness her weakness "And the demon?" she asked her eyes locking onto the seal on Naruto's belly. "The demon has been sealed." the man holding him confirmed stepping closer and handing Naruto to the woman "Your son is a hero Kushina." Naruto froze as he heard those words, this was his mother?! He finally knew who his mother was! The memory wavered and faded and Naruto found himself back in the room with Kyuubi tears streaking unimpeded down his face, his eyes locked onto Kyuubi and he dove at her wrapping his arms tightly around her "Thank you!" he repeated over and over. Kyuubi wrapped her arms around Naruto as well holding him close a small serene smile on her face.

It took Naruto a good few minutes to reign in his emotions, giving Kyuubi another squeeze he planted a soft kiss on her before breaking the hug "Thank you." he said one more time, this time he spoke softly his voice laden with emotion.

Kyuubi smiled at Naruto "I'm sorry that was the only memory of your real mother I could find, and I couldn't find anything about your father." she apologized, frustrated her search had yielded nothing that would force the enactment of the CRA. Her scheme had hit a brick wall before it even got going.

Naruto shook his head "I don't care, I know who my mum is now! That means more to me than I know how to say. It's the best gift I've ever gotten." he grinned "So does that mean we can look through all my memories?"

Kyuubi frowned slightly "Ummm most of them, you don't have any memories before the sealing. I suspect the mental trauma of the sealing is the culprit there. However it appears that my" she paused searching for the right word "dark side, for lack of a better term, has been preserving all your memoires perfectly."

Naruto frowned "Why?" he questioned

Kyuubi hesitated, she was fairly certain she knew the answer and it wasn't pretty, she was afraid of what he would think of her if he found out although that went against everything she knew about him "Are you sure you want to know?" she asked softly "It's really not nice." She guessed that she had kept the memories around so she could use them to break Naruto's spirit at a later date; making him relive every bad memory and picking apart the few good ones.

Naruto nodded "If you don't want to tell me then don't Kyuubi-chan."

Kyuubi nodded and shot Naruto a grateful smile "Thanks. Anyway, why did you want to know if you could see all your memories?"

Naruto grinned "Mizuki-sensei showed us this awesome wind jutsu at school today and I want to see it again." he chuckled "If I watch him over and over I can learn the hand signs too!"

Kyuubi froze and stared at Naruto "That's perfect." she whispered to herself, Naruto had unintentionally provided her with a solution to her big problem well if it worked anyway. "We could try that but not with a jutsu, let's try something simpler."

Naruto pouted that his chance to possibly learn a jutsu had been taken away but nodded "So what then?"

Kyuubi thought about it "Tree walking; that'd be a good test." she announced after a moment's thought.

Naruto nodded looking a little disappointed that he would be reliving that exercise "Alright, so how do we do that?"

Kyuubi grinned and closed her eyes "You'll see." she mumbled concentrating on last nights tree walking training. The door behind them appeared to waver before solidifying again "Go into the door." she said

Naruto looked confused for a moment before shrugging and following Kyuubi's command. Kyuubi watched Naruto's form fade from view, she would need to teach Naruto how to memory walk and control his mindscape to use this efficiently. She shrugged and sat down, she would retrieve Naruto in around an hour and then they would find out if this actually worked or not.


	22. Chapter 22

If anyone with the ability to see chakra had been looking at Naruto's unconscious form whilst he relived the memories they would have seen his feet slowly pulsing with his chakra. The hour passed slowly for Kyuubi as she sat out side the door, if this worked and she played her cards right everything would fall into place almost perfectly however if it didn't then she would be forced to come up with a new plan to get Hinata accustomed to having an open relationship. She gave a heavy sigh, it was killing her not knowing whether or not this experiment would work! She definitely agreed with Naruto, surprises suck! Finally the last few seconds ticked away and she jumped to her feet stepping into the memory and pulling Naruto back out "Times up." she informed him

Naruto frowned "What?" he questioned "I was only in there for half an hour, forty minutes tops."

Kyuubi shook her head "It was an hour out here." she replied with a small sigh; he wasn't even managing a 1:1 ratio of time? She would really have to train him in how to do this properly.

Naruto's frown deepened "How does that work?!"he all but demanded

Kyuubi grinned "I'll tell you after we find out if this little trick works." she replied; she wouldn't have much to look for but she was fairly confidant she would be able to see any improvement he made however small.

Naruto pouted slightly and muttered under his breath about his Kyuubi-chan being a meanie and not answering his questions but he slipped back out of the mindscape and into his body stretching his limbs and grumbling once more as he found his left leg had fallen asleep. Once his leg finally decided to respond to his brain he turned to face the wall 'You watching Kyuubi-chan?' he asked as he walked slowly towards the wall.

'Yeah.' Kyuubi responded 'I'm watching Naruto-sama.'

Naruto frowned gently 'Call me Naruto-kun, we're like boyfriend and girlfriend now aren't we?' he asked his face colouring lightly.

Kyuubi blushed slightly too but she smiled 'Alright Naruto-sa.. kun.'

Naruto beamed as he walked around on the wall, wildly annoyed as his control slipped ever so often leaving the odd footprint in the plaster 'So what do you think?' he asked, it seemed a little easier to keep control than it had been last night but he wasn't entirely certain.

There was a silence whilst Kyuubi did a little happy dance in her head, it worked! Her plan could proceed! 'That's awesome!' she finally declared 'It works perfectly! Good job Naruto-s..kun.'

Naruto's grin couldn't get any larger as he settled back on the sofa and closed his eyes rapidly finding himself back in the mindscape, the trip made even easier now Kyuubi had altered the seal to better accommodate their meetings. As soon as the mindscape materialised Naruto ran over to Kyuubi and pulled her into a quick hug planting a small kiss on her cheek, his face burning red as he did so, "So what's with the time thing?" he questioned settling into her arms happily.

"Well your brain works much faster than your body, it might have taken your body an hour to do it in real life but that doesn't mean you have to take an hour to see it." Kyuubi explained gently pulling Naruto against her enjoying the contact with the person she loved "Normally by the time someone has the ability to look through someone's memories like this, even their own, they can get at least a 1:1 ratio of time in the memory and time that passes in the real world."

Naruto frowned "What about me? Why wasn't I in there an hour then? I can look at my memories right?"

Kyuubi gave a small sigh "I was getting to that. You don't look at your memories under your own power; you visited your mindscape only by using the seal as a catalyst."

"Catalyst?" Naruto echoed blankly

Kyuubi gave a low growl, every time she was reminded how little he had been taught she just wanted to go flatten that stupid academy, "The seal is the reason you can come in here, it helps you." she offered, Naruto gave a nod of understanding, "And then I was the one to locate the memory so you really don't have any knowledge of mind walking at all." she giggled gently at herself, in retrospect expecting anyone without any experience of mind-walking to get even a 2:3 ratio was a little unrealistic and for Naruto to manage even the 1:2 he apparently did was very good for only his second experience of being in a memory.

Naruto nodded again "So are you going to teach me?" he asked excited at the prospect of learning something new.

Kyuubi nodded "Yeah, I'll teach you after....." she paused "actually since you've already missed two hours want to skip the academy today?"

Naruto actually paused for a second "What about Hinata-chan?" he questioned

Kyuubi grinned "We could go find her as she leaves the academy and then you could hang out with her for a bit." she suggested

Naruto nodded "Sounds great! So what are we going to do now?"

"Well firstly we need to come up with an excuse." Kyuubi replied with a scheming smile on her face, time to put her plan into action.

"An excuse for what?" Naruto asked

"Well if you actually want to use the jutsu you learn this way you'll need to be able to explain how you learnt them." Kyuubi explained

Naruto's face fell "Oh." he muttered wracking his brain for any possible way he could explain away any information he gained this way without it leading to questions he'd rather not answer. He looked up at Kyuubi seeing the grin on her face, a matching smile appearing on his lips "You have an answer don't you." it wasn't really a question.

"Yeah." Kyuubi nodded "We can pass it off as a kekkei genkai, no-one knows your parents so there shouldn't be any questions about how you got it."

Naruto chuckled "That's perfect!" he declared

Kyuubi grinned "Well I'm going to have to teach you a few things and we need to decide on other things before we can do that."

"What?" Naruto asked curious

"Well we need to decide what it looks like and what to call it. Once we have that I need to teach you a minor demon illusion so you can change your eyes whilst the kekkei genkai is active."

Naruto gave a small nod "Umm won't I also need to explain what it does?"

Kyuubi's grin grew a little "Not for a while, you can just say you don't know until you master it."

Naruto chuckled hugging Kyuubi "That's awesome Kyuubi-chan! You think of everything!"

Kyuubi blushed under Naruto's praise "Not everything, I just have more experience at this than you." she gave him a mischievous grin "It's practically in my blood. Now what shall we get it to look like?"

Naruto was silent for a while as he considered the Sharingan and Byakugan, the only two kekkei genkai he knew of, "Hmmm maybe my eyes could turn a different colour?"

Kyuubi nodded "Let's go with purple." she said, she knew Naruto's eyes would turn red if she took over and this way he might be able to pass it off as the second stage of his kekkei genkai "And we should probably do something to your pupils as well."

Naruto nodded "Sure purple sounds good." he agreed "Maybe I have two pupils that remain my original eye colour?"

Kyuubi nodded, the design was crude at the moment but they would refine it once Naruto learnt the jutsu and could see what they looked like better. "So what should we call it?."

Naruto chuckled "Gijime" he offered

Kyuubi giggled "False eye?" she shook her head "Sure that works."

* * *

I beleive there's going to be a time skip between this chapter and the next, unless I remember anything that needs to be put in place before the story can get going. Also I've been thinking about including Hanabi in naruto's harem, I can't quite make up my mind so if you could let me know what you think of that idea, preferrably with a reason why you think that it would be greatly appreciated.


	23. Chapter 23

Over the next few months the days shortened the leaves on the trees changing from green to the full spectrum of yellows and oranges as summer drew to a close and autumn set in. Kyuubi trained Naruto as much as she could; his dream scape training was now split evenly. With two nights spent learning how to mind walk and control his mindscape and memories better, two nights spent learning theory, history or some other subject, and two nights spent actually revisiting memories leaving one night a week free for Kyuubi and Naruto to just hang out or go on a date; although Kyuubi often joked that they served as lessons in love. Naruto soaked up the knowledge like a sponge, he wanted to make her proud of him, and was beginning to find it getting harder and harder to not just blurt out correct answers to questions in class, although the years of experience in lying coupled with Kyuubi's reminders meant he very rarely slipped up and he had a reasonable excuse every time he did.

It had only taken a month for Naruto to master changing the landscape of his mind, the seal had been weakened but they had found it out it still messed with the malleability of his mind scape, and the first thing he had done was make Kyuubi's seal much more comfortable, after sending her off to find a memory so it would be a surprise. Kyuubi's response to that particular surprise had been to tackle her host to the ground and rain kisses down upon his face.

Along with his mental training Kyuubi had also stepped up Naruto's physical training, most days Naruto would head out into the forest after school and not return until well after the sun had set. She drilled chakra control exercises into his head until tree walking was almost second nature to Naruto and they had only recently started moving onto water walking which more often than not lead to a soaking and rather peeved Naruto and a very amused Kyuubi. In addition to the chakra exercises they had also stepped up Naruto's physical training, the new training schedule he was under would make Gai proud and the benefits where beginning to show, Naruto was getting a lot faster and stronger however his taijutsu was still totally abysmal despite Kyuubi's best efforts, it was improving but it wouldn't be passable any time soon.

Kyuubi and Naruto had grown closer over the months, both of them taking every opportunity to kiss or hug the other, their dates often ended with the two of them laying in each others arms and just enjoying each other's company occasionally kissing. Naruto had also gotten closer to Naruto, they went on dates at least once a week and fairly recently Hinata had even joined Naruto in his training once or twice a week, although that relationship hadn't developed as much as with Kyuubi. They hugged or held hands fairly frequently and occasionally kissed each other on the cheek but hadn't done much more than that, although this was more their fault than anything else. Naruto wasn't pushing for anything more because he was terrified he would go too far and push Hinata away, loosing his only real friend in his age group, and Hinata's shyness kept her from pressing the relationship forward either meaning that although they both felt ready to go further neither of them said anything about it. However her time with Naruto had begun to put cracks in Hinata's shell and when they were alone she lost at least some of her stuttering, although her cheeks where still coloured by an almost permanent blush, and she barely ever fainted any more.

* * *

Naruto sat on the sofa eyeing his front door, his hands nervously nursing a kunai, for any other child this would have been a good day, doubly so in fact, it was both the festival for the defeat of the Kyuubi and his birthday. However Naruto, as reality was only too keen to remind him, was no ordinary child. Kyuubi had been depressed all day, this day reminded her both of the number of innocents she had killed in the attack and of the pain she had caused Naruto by being sealed in him. Naruto had been trying to cheer her up for most of the day, desperately yearning to enter the seal and comfort her in person but she had blocked him not willing to leave his body unguarded until she was fairly certain he would be in one piece when he woke up. He knew better than to dare leave his house and now as the daylight began to wane he guessed it would only be a matter of time until some villager got the _brilliant_ idea to finish off the fourth's work. A quiet knock on his door snapped him out of his revelry and he stood up cautiously approaching the door; his mind working overtime. Who was it? Why did they knock? His grip on the kunai tightened "Hello?" he called

A voice replied after a small pause "Hi."

Naruto hastily tossed the kunai to a side and flung the door open putting on his best grin "Hinata-chan!" he declared happily "Why are you here?" he asked as he ushered her inside, closing the door behind her to try and retain what little heat his dilapidated boiler provided.

Hinata frowned softly, Naruto seemed really on edge. More so than usual, every one of his muscles was tense and he appeared to be on high alert, normally he would have just flung the door open but this time he hadn't opened it until after he had heard her voice. What was worrying him to such a degree that he would be this cautious? "Well it's your b..." she supplied to answer his question.

Naruto nodded slightly "And?" he questioned confused

Hinata blinked giving Naruto an incredulous stare for about a second before realising he had never had anyone to celebrate his birthday with, her stare dissolving into a sad smile as she reached into her jacket pock retrieving a small package wrapped in powder blue paper "I..I got t.. f..for you." she said blushed and gently pressing the gift into Naruto's hand.

Naruto stared silently at the present his hand shaking slightly, he was aware that people supposedly got gifts on their birthday but that happened to other people not to him. He tenderly unwrapped the paper finding a long rectangular black box inside his hands shook a little more and his vision blurred with unshed tears; here was physical evidence that someone cared for him.

"Are you ok?" Hinata asked softly, she hadn't expected Naruto to react like this! And he hadn't even seen her gift yet!

Naruto gave a small nod "Yeah. I'm fine." he broke his eyes away from the box and his gaze locked with Hinata's her cheeks flushing a deep red whilst his lit up with a gentle pink glow "You have no idea how much this means to me." he whispered softly.


	24. Chapter 24

The raw emotion in his voice surprised Hinata although she noted, somewhat disappointedly, he still hadn't let his guard down "Aren't y..you going to o..o..open it?"

With a small chuckle Naruto nodded "Yeah." he gingerly opened the box and pulled out it's contents, in his hand was a silver pendant, a simple silver disk attached to a fine chain. He lifted it up to get a better look finding the disk was carved; one side held the Uzumaki spiral, the same design on the back of his jacket whilst the other side had a familiar seal on it. His brows furrowed for a second as he tried to recall where he had seen it before, Hinata smiled softly, she thought his thinking face was adorable, "A storage seal?" he finally whispered.

Hinata gave a small nod a little surprised, she hadn't expected Naruto to be able to identify the seal, "Yeah,." she confirmed "I k..know you won't th.. throw away your p.. par.. p...parents' jacket so I t..t..thought you could s..s..seal it in there." she explained blushing.

Naruto's eyes flicked between the necklace and Hinata as the tears he had only just brought under control threatened to erupt once more, this was perfect! He could keep the last connection to his parents with him at all times without having to wear it or worry about it getting damaged. He dove at Hinata hugging her tightly "Thank you!" he exclaimed his eyes locking onto her lips as his head inched forward slowly before bridging the last of the distance in an instant his lips meeting hers.

Hinata's body stiffened and she squeaked in shock, Naruto-kun was kissing her! Once her brain had managed to process that little fact she began to kiss back her blush reaching new heights and she felt, for the first time in a good few weeks, faint however she refused to let that feeling out mercilessly stomping it down.

Their lips broke apart slowly Naruto's face flushed softly whilst Hinata's was glowing bright red; about a second later Naruto's brain engaged and he realised what he had done his blush jumping to almost match Hinata's as he grinned at her, getting a small smile in return. He slipped the necklace around his neck and pulled off his jacket, leaving him in just a black t-shirt and jeans, and sealed it away. "Thanks again, this is the best gift I've ever gotten." he paused and gave a small chuckle "Well it's the only gift really." he didn't count the storage scrolls and other things from the old man because they were more of a necessity than anything else.

Hinata gave a small nod her mind reliving the kiss leaving her body to fend for itself her gaze firmly on Naruto's lips. She began to lean forward slowly at first but building in speed as she neared but paused their faces mere inches apart as her shyness returned in full force, Naruto gave a good natured chuckle and closed the gap, once again their lips brushed together. Naruto gave a small happy sigh maybe this birthday wouldn't be so bad, he smiled tenderly at Hinata "So how la.." he froze halfway through his question his head snapping to the door and his eyes widening in fear.

"W..w..wa" Hinata began before Naruto shhhed her

Naruto strained his hearing, he could hear them! He could hear the rapid foot falls as the group approached and could just about make out cried of "Kill the demon!" and other rather less pleasant and more descriptive cries along the same vein. His head snapped to Hinata, if they found her here! Pure terror filled his mind, enough that Kyuubi felt it through the partially closed link 'What is it?!' she demanded.

'A mob's coming, and Hinata-chan is here!' Naruto yelled back his mind working overtime, there wasn't time to escape without being seen! He grabbed Hinata's hand "Quickly follow me!"

Hinata nodded fear building in her gut, Naruto's terror was obvious and he wasn't afraid of anything! So why was he panicking! "W...w..w...what's going on?" she stammered out.

Naruto darted into his bedroom pulling open the closet and gently pushing Hinata into it giving her the best reassuring grin he could "Don't worry about anything." he instructed "Just stay here. No matter what you hear stay in here."

Hinata frowned softly "What's g..g..going on?" she repeated her mind desperately trying to find some reason for his actions.

Naruto leant in and kissed Hinata softly "Just promise me, promise you won't come out until I get you no matter what." he pleaded, if she came out and was found!

Hinata gave a small nod "I promise." she agreed solemnly.

Naruto almost visibly relaxed, the mob was almost upon them now, "Good." he began to close the door but paused and took of the necklace pressing it into Hinata's hands "Keep this safe for me." he said "And remember, I love you." he gave her one last grin before pushing the door shut. Hinata sat in the darkness her mind reeling, Naruto-kun loved her! And why did he sound like he was saying goodbye! She yearned to leave the closet and get her answers but she didn't want to break her promise to Naruto.

Naruto wandered back into the main room locating the kunai he had thrown away when Hinata had arrived 'What are you doing?! Run!' Kyuubi exclaimed as Naruto took a seat waiting for the mod to arrive.

'I can't, if I go then they'll trash the place and they could find or hurt Hinata.' he stated resolutely his mind already made up. He had a small sad smile 'Talk to you later Kyuubi-chan, I love you.' he closed the link as tightly as he could before she could reply, he knew the link would carry pain and wasn't going to let her suffer through this as well!


	25. Chapter 25

Kyuubi yelled pounding uselessly at the link desperately trying to re-establish a link with Naruto a heavy sob wracked her chest damn it! Why'd she have to be so useless! She slammed her fist into the wall glaring at the seal, if only she wasn't trapped here then maybe she could help him! 'You better survive!' she screamed tears beginning to form in her eyes as her voice broke 'I'll never forgive you if you go and die one me!'

Naruto felt Kyuubi's incessant attempts to force the link open but refused to budge, it hurt to cut her off like that but if was for her own good he would beg for forgiveness later, he could hear the mob practically at his doorstep now. Moving to a window he peeked outside scanning for any of the small handful of ANBU that would actually put a stop to the mob before it began, most of them were content to watch the beating and swoop in at only the very last moment if only to avoid the wrath the Hokage promised to bring down if Naruto died or went missing under their watch, he found none. Giving a sigh Naruto regarded the kunai in his hand, originally he had planned to escape using the kunai as a last resort but now running wasn't an option the weapon would probably just serve to make the beating worse. With another weary sigh he dropped the kunai to the floor and kicked it under the sofa, he knew what was coming but found himself oddly calm normally he was reduced to blind panic in the face of a mob but this time was different. Maybe it was because he was resigned to his fate and was no longer trying to find ways of avoiding it, maybe it was because he was protecting Hinata-chan and Kyuubi-chan, he didn't really know. His reflection was rudely broken only a few seconds later as the door to his apartment flew open almost flying off it's hinges "There it is!" screamed one of the villagers "Get it!" another added.

A fist flew out of the crowd, obviously chakra enhanced, and slammed into his jaw Naruto flew backwards slamming brutally into the wall with a loud crash, cracks spiderwebbing from the point of impact. Naruto gave a grunt as the collision forced the breath from his lungs but he didn't cry out in pain, he had learnt long ago that crying out meant nothing the ANBU would save him when they felt like it and not a moment before. The crowd advanced on him once more more fists and feet flying as everyone tried to land a hit on the demon child, Naruto kept his mouth firmly shut only small gaps escaping his lips when a chakra enhanced attack connected or he felt a bone break.

* * *

The ANBU on guard duty finally decided to step in after some bright spark had declared that a demon shouldn't be wearing human skin and taken a knife to Naruto's hand flaying him. The man had gotten halfway up his forearm before the ANBU stopped him dispersing the crowd as quickly as they could catching one or two token victims but letting the vast majority of the group scatter. One of the ANBU had fetched the Hokage who arrived on the scene only moments after the last of the aggressors had vanished into the night. His normally calm friendly face set in an angry scowl as he saw Naruto's condition; he was lying slumped against the wall unconscious, Sarutobi was grateful for that small mercy, his right arm missing most of it's skin from the forearm down and leaking blood at an alarming rate, he was covered in multiple wounds his left leg bent at an unnatural angle in two places, he guessed from Naruto's laboured breathing that a lung had been punctured but he didn't know if it had been a kunai or a rib that had done it, his jaw was obviously broken too. He didn't doubt there were more injuries that he couldn't see he gave an angry growl rounding on the ANBU; "Frog, Deer, Badger; what is the meaning of this?" his voice held a dangerous edge "How did it escalate this much?" his eyes flicked back to Naruto worriedly every so often.

The ANBU wearing the deer mask stepped forward "We apologize Hokage-sama, we prevented a larger crowd of people getting through but it appears they" he pointed at the three civilians they had caught, who were tied up next to the door slumped against the wall unconscious "came round a back alley whilst we were busy and assaulted the _boy_." his voice was heavy with contempt as he carefully avoided using Naruto's name.

Sarutobi glanced to the other two ANBU ninja, who both nodded their confirmation of their leaders report, he gave an almost inaudible sigh his eyes moving back to Naruto once more, he wasn't an idiot this was clearly the work of more than three people but there wasn't much he could do with the council blocking him at every turn and if he followed up every erroneous report regarding Naruto his ANBU forces would be reduced to a scant handful at best. He wished he could just assign the few ANBU members who treated the boy at least as well as any other civilian to him as permanent guards but sadly the council worked hard to ensure those particular ninja got sent off on missions as often as possible. After a moments deliberation he turned back to the ANBU squad "Very well, see that such a amateur mistake doesn't occur again." he admonished them

They bowed "We apologize Hokage-sama, it won't happen again Hokage-sama." they apologized as a unit in almost perfect unison.

"What shall we do with the prisoners?" Deer questioned

"Take them to Ibiki, tell him that they assaulted Naruto." Sarutobi commanded

"Yes Hokage-sama." the ANBU replied in unison as they grabbed a prisoner each and exited the premises.

Sarutobi sighed and turned back to Naruto bending down and picking the child up "I'm sorry." he said softly his eyes brimming with sadness.

Naruto groaned as the movement snapped him back to consciousness he opened his eyes weakly "Hey old man." he muttered as best he could white hot fire exploding through his being as he moved his broken jaw.

Sarutobi glanced down his eyes widening with surprise "Naruto? You're awake?. Don't talk, you'll just hurt yourself worse. I'll take you to the hospital."

Naruto shook hiss head "No." he stated bright flashes appearing before his eyes as the agony once more exploded though him "Not yet." he forced himself out of Sarutobi's arms and landed on the floor the pain climbing to new highs as his weight forced the bones in his left leg even more of of alignment, he ignored it, he'd felt worse. Forcing himself to straighten up he ignored his body's protests as he dragged himself towards his bedroom, leaving a trail of blood in his wake, he'd promised he'd get Hinata once it was safe and he meant it dammit! Sarutobi trailed a little behind Naruto, he'd seen the determination in the young boy's eyes and he knew nothing short of knocking Naruto unconscious again would stop him. He was curious to see what exactly had lit such a fire under the ninja in training.


	26. Chapter 26

Naruto limped into his bedroom using the door frame to hold himself up, he glanced down at his body as though noticing his injuries for the first time and grimaced at the sigh of his flayed arm. He didn't want to worry Hinata-chan! After a moments deliberation he tore off his t-shirt and bound it around the offending limb a small but rapidly growing stain appearing on the black material as it soaked up his blood, Kyuubi's chakra was working overtime providing enough blood to prevent Naruto just bleeding to death leaving little energy to actually repair his wounds. Happy that he had hidden the injury most likely to worry Hinata, Naruto made his way across the bedroom stumbling slightly as he lost the support of the door frame. Reaching his closet he pulled it open, Sarutobi's eyes widened slightly as he saw Hinata, Hinata blinked a few times her eyes getting re-accustomed to the light after the darkness of the closet her breath hitched as she saw the state Naruto was in "Naruto-kun?" she breathed catching a movement on the edge of her vision she shifted her gaze "H.. Hokage-sama?!" she spluttered.

Naruto gave a small relieved smile "You're safe Hinata-chan." he said happily reaching out with his left hand gently prying the necklace from her grip and placing it round his neck "I'm glad." he muttered quietly as he finally allowed his body the rest it was demanding and collapsed in an undignified pile on the floor.

Hinata stared at Naruto's unconscious form in silence "Naruto-kun?" she whispered fearfully "Naruto-kun!" she repeated desperately her body shaking with grief as tears rolling down her cheeks "What happened?" she asked her voice sounding hollow and broken and her gaze never leaving Naruto.

Sarutobi shook his head sadly scooping up the poor child's body "I'm not really sure, we'll have to ask Naruto when he wakes up." he replied carefully, unsure how much Naruto would want his friend to know and how much it would be wise to tell the young girl.

Hinata perked up slightly hope shining in her eyes "Y.y..you mean h..he's not...." her breath caught in her throat and she found herself unable to finish her question.

"Dead?" Sarutobi finished for her shaking his head "No, he's not."

"B.b..but he lost so m..much b..." Hinata questioned confused she could see the shirt around his arm was almost totally drenched in his blood, she didn't even want to think what kind of wound it hid for him to bleed that much, and he was bleeding from a good number of other wounds everything she had been taught at the academy told her these where fatal wounds.

"Well Naruto-san is.. special." Sarutobi answered evasively "But he needs to get to the hospital fast, you should just head home I doubt he'll be waking up for a good few hours." in truth he didn't know how long the fox would be able to prevent Naruto bleeding out but he wanted to end this conversation before Hinata asked any more difficult questions.

Hinata's eyes widened and she nodded swallowing her questions "Y..yes Hokage-sa..sama." she replied, how stupid was she?! Naruto had been bleeding to death and she had been holding him up to ask some silly questions!

Sarutobi gave an internal sigh of relief and waved the Hyuuga heir goodbye as he leapt out of Naruto's house and towards the hospital and may kami have mercy on the doctors if they decided not to treat Naruto because he wouldn't!

Hinata ambled back towards the Hyuuga compound slowly, her body moving more or less on autopilot as her brain worked furiously to try and deciphered what exactly had happened to Naruto. A heavy blush took route as she drew a conclusion, he had been protecting her! But from what? She puzzled running through her memories of the night to try and find any clues and finding nothing. She automatically resisted the urge to give a very un-Hyuuga like sigh of annoyance as she drew a complete blank, maybe she should go see Shikamaru she recalled him being very good at solving puzzles, at least when he could be bothered. She passed the street where the Hyuuga compound was situated and kept walking, yes she would go Shikamaru after all it couldn't hurt and she might get some of the answers she craved.

* * *

Naruto gave a bleary groan as he opened his eyes staring for a moment at the white ceiling his nostrils flared as he caught the scent of antiseptic, yep this was the hospital alright, he was dimly aware that nothing seemed to hurt any more and idly wondered if it was merely the effects of painkillers or if Kyuubi-chan had fixed him up already. He froze his heart monitor beeping frantically as he realised he needed to talk to Kyuubi-chan, a Nurse outside his room heard the sudden increase in heart rate and rushed off to find a doctor, closing his eyes he hastily reopened the link and entered his mindscape. His body slumping back against his pillow as his mind turned inwards just as a small team of doctors burst in.

Naruto reopened his eyes and gave a small smile at the vast expanse of forest that spread out from in in all directions taking a moment to orientate himself he realised he wasn't very far from Kyuubi-chan's house and began to move towards it. He hoped she was home otherwise he would have to spend hours tracking her down to apologize for cutting her off, he craved her forgiveness and the fact that he had done something to cause her sadness ate away at him even with the knowledge he had done it to keep her from harm.

* * *

I apologize for the slightly shorter than normal chapter but I've been pretty busy over Chirstmas. And it's slightly late but Merry Christmas to all my readers, hope you got what you wanted ^^ And happy new Yers too you all as well


	27. Chapter 27

He walked up to the deceptively small wooden house, he would have made it larger but originally he had only constructed it as a place to house the door to the corridor of memories as he called it. It was only later he had expanded the insides of the building to give Kyuubi somewhere to stay when she was in her human form.

Taking a deep breath he knocked on the wooden door "Kyuubi-chan?" he asked softly. If Kyuubi heard him then she didn't reply and after a moment standing outside, Naruto tried the door and found it to be locked. Frowning gently he tried once more "Kyuubi-chan?! Please answer the door!" he called a little louder, he knew she was inside otherwise the door wouldn't have been locked; thinking about it he didn't know why he had even put a lock on the door in the first place it wasn't like anyone apart from him and Kyuubi-chan could come here.

Naruto frowned when he once again got no answer "I'm coming in now, ready or not." he warned as he turned the door handle a brief moment of concentration yielding the satisfying sound of tumblers turning in the locking mechanism before the door swung open. Stepping inside he scanned the room, it was fairly large coloured in warm red with light streaming in from windows that didn't exist on the outside of the building and a grand fireplace dominated the far wall. As far as furniture went it was fairly sparse; a sofa sat in front of the fireplace flanked by two end tables, a large bookcase stood along the wall to his left full to the brim with books and some cabinets displayed a variety of weapons some of which appeared to deny conventional physics, those ones hurt the eyes if you stared at them too hard, there were only four doors leading off from this main room, Kyuubi-chan's bedroom, an onsen, the memory corridor and a training room. Making his way across the room Naruto opened the door to the training room peering inside and finding it empty. Sighing he skipped the door to the onsen, he doubted she was in there anyway, and paused outside the door to his memories, no Kyuubi-chan can't be in there, I always get that weird deja-vu feeling when she's rifling through my old memories, he mused. That only left her bedroom, so Kyuubi-chan has to be in here! Naruto thought victoriously as he put a hand on the bedroom door and slowly opened it "Kyuubi-chan?" he asked tenderly as he peered in. Like the living room her bedroom was decorated predominately in warms reds and wood, the room dominated by a massive queen sized bed, Kyuubi was curled up on the bed her arms around her legs and her eyes red and puffy from crying, she must've cried herself to sleep.

Naruto's heart wrenched at the sight as he slowly moved closer gently brushing a few strands of hair back into place "Kyuubi-chan." he whispered "It's me, Naruto."

Kyuubi stirred slightly from her fitful sleep "Naruto-kun?" she asked blearily opening her eyes

Naruto gave a sad smile "Yeah." he confirmed

Kyuubi sprung at Naruto wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tight "You're ok!" she yelled "Oh thank kami!" Naruto stiffened slightly in her grip, this certainly wasn't the reaction he had been expecting from her.

With a resounding slap Kyuubi's hand connected with Naruto's cheek "That's for making me worry about you!" she hissed

Naruto lifted a hand to his cheek, the slap hadn't hurt, just surprised him. "I was protecting you!" he retorted hotly, he hated making Kyuubi sad but if it stopped her from getting hurt we would do it again and again!

"You don't need to take it all on yourself Naruto! Let me help! Let me bare some of the pain!" Kyuubi demanded

Naruto shook his head vehemently "No! I won't! I love you and I refuse to let anything hurt you!"

"Think about how I feel!" Kyuubi snapped

"I am! That's why I'm protecting you!" Naruto retorted angrily, was it really so hard to accept that he would do anything to keep her safe and happy?

"How do you think I feel watching you suffer and not being able to help! how do you think it feels to watch the person you love almost die! How do you think it feels to feel, to actually feel his life slowly drain away, I was so scared for you, so scared.." She had started angrily but her anger had bled into sadness by the end of her rant she was crying into Naruto's shoulder noting with mild surprise that her eyes had filled with tears, she had been sure she'd cried herself dry the night before.

Naruto wrapped his arms around her rubbing her back in what he hoped was a reassuring manner "I'm sorry." he said softly Kyuubi's words echoing around his head twisting a dagger in his heart as he realised just how much he had hurt Kyuubi "I... I didn't know.."

Kyuubi sniffed "Promise me." she asked her voice muffled as her head was buried in her shoulder

"Promise you what?" Naruto asked

"That you won't do something like this again." Kyuubi requested lifting her face back out of Naruto's shoulder "Promise me." she pleaded

Naruto leant forward and gently pressed his lips against hers "I promise." he whispered lovingly.

Kyuubi gave a very small nod her lips seeking out Naruto's once more "Thank you." she whispered softly.


	28. Chapter 28

They remained together for a while longer, each taking comfort in the presence of the other their lips occasionally meeting in gentle kisses. "I should get back to the real world." Naruto finally spoke up reluctantly "I don't want the doctors declaring me dead whilst I'm in here." he joked with a grin

Kyuubi smiled back, albeit weakly, "Ok then, it's time you activate your bloodline."

Naruto paused halfway out of Kyuubi's arms "Really? Why?"

Kyuubi grinned "The Sharingan is awakened by life threatening situations." she supplied hoping Naruto would see what she meant.

Naruto thought for a moment "And so is the Gijime" he grinned and leant forward giving Kyuubi a quick kiss "See you later." he pulled a face "Not like the stupid doctors are going to let me go anywhere."

Kyuubi giggled "Yeah, see you later Naruto-kun."

Naruto shot her one last smile as he faded from the mindscape.

* * *

Naruto's eyes snapped open startling the doctor that had leant over his face "It's alive!" the man gasped.

Naruto frowned when he heard the mumblings of "Dammit." from a few of the doctors in the room, most of them treated him only because the Hokage ordered it but they definitely didn't like it.

"What happened to your eyes!" someone gasped, the other doctors muttering in low voices Naruto caught only snippets of since his hearing was currently unenhanced, he resisted the smug smirk that tried to place itself on his lips as he heard the word kekkei genkai being thrown around.

Naruto frowned"What do you mean?" he asked sounding curious although he had a very good idea of what they were talking about.

Their medical curiosity overriding their inherent dislike for the boy for the moment a doctor rushed out and retrieved a hand mirror opening it up and letting Naruto see his new eyes. His eyes where a dark purple colour with two distinct pupils that remained the electric blue of his original eyes, each pupil appeared capable of independent movement as one in each eye focused on the mirror whilst the other darted around taking in the room. Once more he had to resist a smile, Kyuubi-chan had done an amazing job on the illusion.

'Thank you' Kyuubi replied happily, she and Naruto had talked about the design a lot but she had made some last minute changes to the shades of the eye as well as the movements of the two pupils.

"Oh that." Naruto mumbled softly "This kinda happens from time to time, it should shut off again in a while."

The doctors eyes widened "He has a new kekkei genkai?!" they glanced at each other before a woman stepped forward leaning in and giving Naruto her best smile, although Naruto brushed it aside easily, he remembered that same woman refusing to treat him many times before "Can you tell us what these eyes do?" she asked.

"They change colour!" Naruto declared happily "It's so awesome, my eyes can go from blue to purple." he pouted "Although I wish I could control the change, then I could really freak people out!" he watched the faces of the doctors collapse at his childish answer storing that memory away to laugh at later.

"It's a new kekkei genkai, he's only just awakened it we really can't expect him to know how it works." one of the older doctors spoke up, Naruto realised that the crowd of doctors in his room was steadily increasing, clearly someone had spread the word that he had awakened a new kekkei genkai.

"True" the woman who had been talking to him agreed, her name tag gave him the name; Dr. Furiko "Maybe we should take a blood sample to see if we can determine it's ancestry?"

Naruto froze up 'Carp, crap, crap! A blood sample will show I don't have anything won't it?!' Naruto panicked.

'No, don't worry.' Kyuubi soothed him sounding slightly amused by her containers panic and secretly proud that he had at least taken something from their dream scape study sessions. 'Blood samples from you are useless.'

'What do you mean?' Naruto questioned 'Why won't it work? It works for everyone?'

'Not for you.' Kyuubi repeated

'Why not?' Naruto questioned paying minimal attention to the hushed discussions of the doctors as they debated the need for a blood sample.

'I'll explain later.' Kyuubi offered 'It's a long explanation.'

Naruto gave a slight nod although he frowned slightly, I hate waiting he groused to himself, 'Once the doctors leave?'

'Once the doctors leave.' Kyuubi confirmed with an unseen nod

Shifting his focus to the real world Naruto poured chakra into his senses pleased to find they all stabilised within a few seconds "So are you going to take a sample or not." he demanded, he wanted these doctors to get out so he could talk to Kyuubi-chan.

The small crowd turned to face Naruto, in their debate they seemed to have forgotten the boy was even there, "We have decided that is is unnecessary for the moment." Dr. Furiko spoke up, although a few of the doctors grumbled about the decision even as he announced it, "However should anything develop beyond the changes to eye pigmentation and the double pupils we feel that a blood test may become necessary." aside from a few people insisting on the blood test the majority of the doctors had felt that until it had been proven to have some form of beneficial affect they should not label it a kekkei genkai or treat it as such, since in doing so they would be helping the demon. No they would sit back and wait, if this mutation developed into something useful then the demon child might make a interesting test subject for new kekkei genkai otherwise he was just a useless freak. As the decisions was made the doctors began to trickle back out of the room returning from whence they came.

Dr. Furiko, however, lingered behind "Can you feel any chakra around your eyes?" she asked her voice filled with false concern

Naruto closed his eyes and scrunched his face up in his best idea of what he looked like whilst concentrating "Ummmm..." he lapsed into silence for a brief moment "Yeah.. there's some chakra there." he finally announced, the only chakra in his eyes was the chakra that was enhancing his vision; Kyuubi had written the genjutsu for his eyes into the seal so it couldn't be dispelled and all Naruto had to do was pour a little chakra into the seal to turn it on; Kyuubi had informed his of this along with a firm reiteration of never letting anyone see her seal since now, to anyone well versed in the art of sealing, it would also show the truth behind his eyes.

Dr. Furiko nodded making an interested "hmmm" she paused for a moment "Ok try removing the chakra."

Naruto gave no verbal response but removed the chakra from the seal the genjutsu fading leaving him with is original eyes "Did something happen?" he questioned "My eyes felt kinda tingly for a sec."

Dr. Furiko gave a pleased smile, her theory confirmed; his eyes where controlled by chakra like the Sharingan and Byakugan. "Your eyes are back to normal." she informed him curtly her voice loosing it's falsified kindness now her medical curiosity was sated. With that she turned to leave, let the demon figure out how to turn that useless, currently, mutant kekkei-genkai on again by himself.


	29. Chapter 29

Naruto waited until Dr. Furiko had left the room before rolling to his left and wrenching the IV from his arm, it had, during his previous visits to the hospital, contained all manner of carcinogenic substances. Naruto glanced down at his arm for just long enough to see the puncture wound in his arm beginning to close he gave a small smile as he leant back in the bed and closed his eyes and followed the rhythmic dripping finding himself in his mindscape once again. He wandered through the plains his eyes darting around as he searched for Kyuubi "Hey! Kyuubi-chan!" Naruto called as he caught sight of her reclining against a tree and ran over to her.

"Hey Naruto-kun, over here!" Kyuubi waved at Naruto as he trotted to her.

Naruto smiled as he sat down next to her giving her a small kiss on the cheek "Missed you." he said softly

Kyuubi blushed fairly and shifted over settling herself in Naruto's lap, enjoying the bright crimson his cheeks went, "Missed you too." she agreed as she leant against his chest with a satisfied sigh

Naruto wrapped his arms around Kyuubi "So why won't blood tests work?" he questioned

Kyuubi looked down "It's because of my youki." she explained "Your body is in a constant state of balance with your enhanced regeneration fixing your cells as fast as my youki kills them."

"But I thought my regeneration was your youki?" Naruto frowned confused

Kyuubi shook her head "No, it's not. Exposure to youki has caused some kind of mutation that accelerated the rate at which your cells divide. Your metabolism increased in order to compensate for all the extra energy this splitting takes." she gave a almost inaudible sigh "If my youki wasn't killing off the cells almost as fast as they divide then they would probably develop into cancer-like cysts. The more youki in your body the faster this division will become and the faster your regeneration will function."

Naruto frowned "But isn't your youki killing them as fast as they get made? How can it heal me?"

"Well the simple answer is your body flares youki in the injured area almost unconsciously, that temporarily accelerates the cell division, as cells will take their energy from youki, and seals the wound shut. I'm not entirely sure of how much damage you can take before you will be unable to fix it or what limits there and I don't really want to have to find out." it wasn't the whole truth nor particularly accurate but it was the general gist of it and simple enough for Naruto to understand. If problems arose because of this explanation she would correct him but otherwise he could keep believing the simplified version.

Naruto gave a faint sombre nod "Oh ok, so why does that mean I can't have a blood test?"

"Well anything taken from your body will quickly die from youki poisoning, it might be possible if the doctor was quick enough but we're talking a matter of seconds so it's unlikely." Kyuubi explained.

"Oh, ok." Naruto smiled softly "I get it now, that's awesome." he grinned "So why didn't you tell me before?"

Kyuubi looked to a side, avoiding Naruto's gaze, "Well... I didn't want to tell you it was my fault that you lost your only solid link to your parents." she mumbled

Naruto paused for a second "Oh, a blood test could've told me who my parents where couldn't it?" he muttered then frowned "Then why didn't the old man ever try it!"

Kyuubi frowned too "He didn't?" she asked

Naruto shook his head "No, all he said was that there was no record of who my parents where." he muttered "Why would the old man not try that?"

Kyuubi gave a low growl "There's no reason, unless he was trying to keep something from you." she muttered

"You think he knows who my parents are?" Naruto asked

Kyuubi gave a faint nod "Yeah, there's something I'd like to check." she stood up and held out her hand for Naruto, who happily accepted threading his hand into hers as they walked towards her house.

"What do we need to check?" Naruto asked curious

"Your memory of your mum, I've got an idea of who was holding you." Kyuubi replied, silently pleading to every deity she knew that she was wrong, Naruto didn't deserve to be betrayed by one of the few people he really trusted.

Naruto's eyes widened before narrowing "The old man was carrying me?!"

"I think so, I don't know for sure." Kyuubi said sadly as she stepped inside and headed to the memory door.

Naruto took a calming breath and nodded facing the door "I guess there's one way to find out." he mumbled quietly. Closing his eyes and focusing on the memory as he stepped into the corridor and finding only the one door. A small smile passed across his face despite his sombre mood, he was proud of the improvements he had made in his memory walking techniques. He stood outside the door shaking "Please, please." he chocked out to any higher being that happened to be listening "Let it not be the old man." he took a steeling breath and stepped through the door the world around him shifted and warped, colour fading to black.

* * *

Slowly Naruto's vision returned and he found himself once again in his memory and gave a small mental shudder, it still felt weird inhabiting his younger body like this. "The demon has been sealed." the man holding him confirmed stepping closer and handing Naruto to the woman "Your son is a hero Kushina." Naruto strained his mind focusing on the voice of the man who had just handed him to his mother, comparing it to the voice of the old man.

It was different, less strained and world weary, and much stringer than the voice he was used to but it was undeniably Sarutobi's voice. He ejected himself from the memory immediately and forcefully suddenly snapping back to his mindscape, the sudden shift sending a powerful wave a nausea through him that went unheeded as he through himself into Kyuubi's arms tears streaming down his cheeks as he fought to hold them back.

Kyuubi rubbed his back comfortingly "What is it?" she asked softly although she knew what his answer would be.

"It was him, the old man lied to me." Naruto muttered taking a deep shuddering breath and blinking the last of the tears from his eyes "He's just like everyone else."

Kyuubi hugged Naruto closer "Not everyone, I don't lie to you and neither does Hinata." she pointed out, at least about anything important, she finished silently.

Naruto gave a small nod and a smile "Yeah.. you're right." he lifted his head and planted a soft, chaste, kiss on her lips "Thanks."

Kyuubi smiled resting her forehead against his "No problem." she replied planting her lips on his in a considerably less chaste kiss.


	30. Chapter 30

Naruto closed his eyes, a gentle blush colouring his cheeks, as he broke away from Kyuubi's kiss forcing the pain of betrayal to the back of his mind, it was his problem and he would deal with it himself. He quickly snapped up the first thought that ran through his brain that wouldn't bring up more unwanted emotions "So, is there any way I can make your youki not hurt me?"

Kyuubi paused for a brief moment before giving a small nod "There is." she confirmed "But you won't like it." she added shaking her head slightly

A small frown decorated Naruto's face, surely if youki was as awesome as Kyuubi-chan had said it would be worth trying? "What do you mean? What is it?" he inquired

There was another short pause before, giving a small sigh, Kyuubi explained "Youki, and chakra for that matter, will continue to damage your body as long as you are human, the only way to prevent it is to become a hanyou."  
"A hanyou?" Naruto echoed not recognising the term"What's that? And what do you mean my chakra hurts me? It doesn't. Does it?"

"A hanyou is a half demon; you wouldn't be human but nor would you be a full blooded demon, and yes your chakra does hurt you what do you think chakra burns are?" Kyuubi answered

"But aren't chakra burns natural? Kinda like your muscles hurting after training for a long time?" Naruto ventured confused as to what Kyuubi meant.

Kyuubi shook her head "No they're different." she paused for breath before elaborating "Chakra burns occur when too much chakra builds up in one area and begins to poison and destroy the body. It occurs because humans were never meant to have chakra, your bodies simply aren't built to cope with it."

Naruto gave a small gasp "We're not?! But we're born with it?! Look at how many people use it! And how many jutsu we've made! What about our chakra coils? And if not how did we get it?" he asked his questions rapidly giving Kyuubi no chance to reply.

Kyuubi gave a soft sigh, she supposed she really should have seen this coming since she had just pulled the rug from under his world view so to speak. "It's true most humans are born with some ability to use chakra," she conceded "but that means absolutely nothing, traits can be introduced to a species all to easily; mutations occur all the time and sometimes a useless mutation will still spread and become the norm."

"Huh?" Naruto spluttered "Mutations? What are you talking about? What does that have to do with chakra?"

Kyuubi shook her head "Gotta remember to keep it simple for Naruto-kun." she murmured to herself "Ok, does everyone use chakra?" she asked hoping this tactic would help the blonde boy understand better.

"No." Naruto replied quickly wondering where Kyuubi was going

"That in itself should be enough proof." Kyuubi announced looking at Naruto and seeing his confused look she elaborated further "If you had evolved to use chakra it would be like a limb to you, someone unable to use chakra would be like someone without legs, or arms. All demons no matter how small can use youki to some extent, it's ingrained into our very being."

Naruto nodded in understanding "Ohhhhh." he paused "Then how did we get our chakra?"

"Short version, you got it from us demons." Kyuubi replied

Naruto nodded "How?" he asked curious

Kyuubi slid a little closer to Naruto and grinned sultrily kissing him gently "We mated with you." she all but purred enjoying the crimson blush that exploded across Naruto's cheeks

"Oh!" Naruto spluttered quickly clamping down on the little part of his brain that had dipped into the knowledge gleaned from his ill gotten Icha Icha collection to provide images of him and Kyuubi mating. He didn't completely understand how mating with demons could lead to humans with chakra but too embarrassed to press the issue

Kyuubi giggled silently as she watched Naruto squirm in embarrassment "You better not be having pervy thoughts Naruto kuuuuuun." she purred moaning out the kun into his ear.

Naruto stiffened squeezing his eyes shut and screaming the mantra; not a pervert! In his head desperately trying to eliminate the images as they appeared with rapidly lessening success "N..n..no" he managed to choke out.

Kyuubi grinned "Good!" she announced moving away the seductiveness leaving her voice as though it had never been there, Naruto might not be ready for anything to happen but that didn't mean she wasn't going to tease him!

Naruto took another minute or so to compose himself before opening his eyes glancing warily at Kyuubi "You said something about becoming a hanno?"

"Hanyou." Kyuubi corrected gently, she had been hoping Naruto had forgotten about that, "And yes, I did."

"How? And what would happen?" Naruto asked curious

A slight frown graced Kyuubi's features, he couldn't really be considering it, could he? He had suffered enough without this setting him further apart from the villagers. She had only told him because she couldn't bring herself to lie to him so soon after he learned about Sarutobi teme's betrayal. "It's kind of complicated but simply put, in order to turn you into a hanyou I'd have to alter your regeneration to create hanyou cells then purge your body with youki, about a tails worth, to kill every human cell."

Naruto nodded, that definitely sounded painful, "And what would happen to me?"

"Umm well you'd be weakened for a little while whilst your body purged the last remnants of your human chakra and finished adapting. Then you'd have to learn how to use your new youki and learn your new body, but you'd be much stronger and faster than any normal human could hope to be. Beyond that I don't really know, every hanyou is different." Kyuubi thought for a second "Oh and you'll almost definitely grow a tail.. or two." Naruto nodded silent as he considered his options but before he could reply Kyuubi cut in "We can talk later, you've got a visitor."

"Who?" Naruto asked putting aside his mental debate for now

"Wake up and find out." Kyuubi replied

"Alright; but if it's someone mean I'm going to get you back." Naruto declared, earning a giggle from Kyuubi

* * *

Wow, just noticed I passed 400 reveiws; thank you everyone who reveiwed you guys rock! Until next time, see ya.


	31. Chapter 31

Naruto grunted softly as he opened his eyes finding himself staring into the teary lavender orbs of a certain Hyuuga-heiress "Hinata?" he croaked finding his throat surprisingly dry.

Hinata froze as she saw Naruto's eyes opening, he was ok! "Naruto!" she cried happily diving into his chest her eyes filling with fresh tears "You're ok!" she mumbled resting her head against his chest, her tears wetting his sheets.

Naruto reached out and rubbed her back slightly awkwardly, he still wasn't very good at comforting people, "Shhh, I'm fine." he said softly "I don't die that easily."

"B..b..but your ar..ar..a..arm?" Hinata protested, her stutter returning in full force as her emotions quieted

Naruto glanced at his right arm, which was swathed in bandages, "Eh." he shrugged dismissively "I've had worse." admittedly the flaying had been something Naruto hadn't experienced before, and he was surprised the villagers had even found something that hadn't been done to him, but it had left his arm largely intact which was more than it had been after some of his worst beatings.

Hinata's eyes widened "W..w..?" she questioned her voice barely rising above a whisper; her stuttering this time induced by dread, what had he been through that he could shrug of a wound that had bled that much?

Naruto nodded solemnly "Yeah." he confirmed, a tiny frown graced Hinata's face, if he had been hurt as badly as he claimed then wouldn't he have some scars? waving off the follow up question he knew was coming Naruto continued "It's not important, what's important is that your ok." he smiled at her "You're ok, aren't you?"

Hinata was torn between anger and happiness, on the one hand Naruto was willing to risk his life to save her but on the other Naruto was willing to throw his life away for her! Naruto watched her face seeing the strange mix of emotions running through her eyes in the short silence that followed his statement. Unable to really express any emotion in words she burrowed her head deeper into Naruto's shoulder breathing in his scent deeply she stayed there for a few seconds, her face flushed from their closeness, before speaking once more "Why?" she asked her voice a soft whisper.

Naruto gave a soft snort "I always protect my precious people." he replied squeezing her gently "I won't let anyone hurt you." Hinata nodded softly refusing the move her head from Naruto's shoulder as she took comfort from his presence; she refused to let him get hurt like this any more! And especially not to save a failure like her! Naruto pulled his arms from around her tugging at the bandages on his arm, they were beginning to rub annoying against his arm, "Pass me a kunai." he asked, a soft frown furrowing his brow.

Hinata looked up "What? Why?" she asked frantically looking around for any hidden enemies Naruto grinned softly as once more her emotions allowed her to overcome her stuttering, if only for a moment.

"Don't worry." he placated the shy girl holding up his right arm "Just want to get rid of these stupid bandages."

Hinata gave a little gasp "B..b.. your arm ca..c..can't be healed a..a..already!" she objected; she had seen how much it had bleeding and it hadn't even been a day since he'd gotten it.

Naruto gave a confused little frown 'He, Kyuubi-chan, it's healed isn't it?' he asked

'Yes, it's healed.' Kyuubi confirmed

Naruto smiled at Hinata "Nah, it's fine." he reassured her tugging at the bandages once more

Hinata hesitated for a fraction of a second before dipping a hand into her kunai pouch and handing one of her kunai to Naruto who took it with a grateful smile "Thanks." he flipped the kunai into a reverse grip and quickly split open his bandages with a precision that only came with practice.

Hinata averted her gaze as the sharp metal of the kunai began to tear through the soft linen bandages, despite his reassurance she was sure his arm was still going to be injured or scarred in some way. However when she heard the soft noise of linen coupled with Naruto's relieved sigh a surge of morbid fascination swept through her and she opened an eye, just a crack, a looked at his uncovered arm. A gasp tore it's way from her throat and her other eyes snapped open, he was fine! The only thing she could find wrong with his arm was that it appeared white a pale compared to the rest of his tanned skin, there was a line around halfway up his forearm where his tanned skin suddenly changed to the pale untanned skin. In fact Hinata could see other small patches of lighter skin all over his arms and even a few on his face, she silently wondered if there where any more patches elsewhere on his body her face growing redder as she began to imagine Naruto without clothes.

Naruto flexed the arm a few times running a hand over the new flesh absently, it was smooth, much smoother than his skin had been before. He guessed it was probably because no hair had grown in yet and shrugged the problem aside. He paused for a moment before picking up the kunai knife on his bed sheets "Oh right! This is yours." he smiled flicked the knife round so he was holding it by the blade and the handle was pointed at Hinata.

Hinata took the kunai gingerly from Naruto's hand and slid it back into it's place in the pouch at her hip "T..t..thanks." she stuttered with a small smile

Naruto grinned "No problem" he replied, silently wondering exactly what she was even thanking him for, it had been her kunai in the first place, he was just returning it.

There was another moment of silence, Hinata was debating about asking Naruto about why there had been a mob out for him in the first place; she wasn't stupid and the closet hadn't been sound proofed so she knew that they had been targeting him. Shikamaru hadn't been very helpful either, when she had spoken to him he had merely given a grunt, mumbled troublesome, and got into his thinking pose, as she liked to call it, and finally told her he really needed more information before he could reach a proper conclusion. "Naruto-k..k..kun?" she finally spoke, having made her mind up, Naruto's quiet grunt let her know he was listening "Ummm... w..w..why were those p..p..p" no they didn't deserve to be called people! "monsters m..mean to you?"

Hinata felt Naruto tensing under her and she heard his heart rate jump up at the question, there was a tense moment of silence and she, for the first time since she had placed it there, lifted her head off Naruto's shoulder and tried to look him in the eyes only to find he was avoiding her gaze. "I..I..I'm sorry" she backtracked thinking she had crossed some kind of line, although she burned with the desire to know why he had been beaten like this and why the Hokage hadn't even looked surprised at the situation it just wasn't worth loosing Naruto's affection over, in her mind nothing was worth that. "I sh..s..shouldn't have as..a...as..asked." she added when Naruto stayed silent

"No..." Naruto said softly, his voice far too quiet in Hinata's opinion, "It's ok.... I just...." he gave a small sad sigh "I just can't tell you yet, I'm sorry, I just can't." he met her gaze and gave her a melancholy smile "I will tell you, but just not yet, not now, later." he reached out pressing a hand against her cheek and rubbing it tenderly "Ok?"

Hinata blushed, opening her mouth to reply but finding her voice had deserted her and making do with a nod, this was a side of Naruto she had never seen before so tender and almost... vulnerable?

Naruto smiled once again his smile a little happier now "Thank you." he spoke in that same soft voice he leant forward and gently pulled Hinata's head forward too their lips meeting in a loving chaste kiss.

Hinata kissed back without really thinking for about a second before realising what she was doing and with whom she was doing it. Her shyness slammed into her brain with all the force of a runaway Akamichi and she threw herself backwards away from Naruto as though burnt her face lighting in a luminescent blush as she fought against the tide of blackness that threatened to overcome her mind.


	32. Chapter 32

"Hinata-chan, Hinata-chan. Wake up Hinata-chan." Naruto intoned shaking her shoulders gently, he knew why she fainted now and, although he was flattered and slightly amused by it, he still found it worrying that Hinata fell unconscious so often.

Hinata's eyes fluttered and, with a soft groan, she lifted her head "W..w..what happened?" she mumbled

Naruto chuckled softly "You fainted after I kissed you."

Hinata blushed, yes, that's right, Naruto had kissed her! "C..c..c..cou..could you ummmm" she tried to ask trailing off and staring at the sheets.

Naruto gave a small grin "You want me to kiss you again?" he guessed, Hinata gave a faint nod still staring at the bed. Naruto gently reached out and turned her head as he leant in a planted his lips gently on hers, his arms wrapping around her petite form and holding her close.

Hinata kissed back softly letting Naruto lead the kiss, her mind whirling; Naruto-kun is kissing me! I'm kissing Naruto-kun!

Naruto broke the kiss slowly, savouring the taste and texture of her lips, and gave her a small smile "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that." he muttered quietly, silently musing how different it was kissing Hinata than Kyuubi; Hinata was shy and let Naruto lead the kiss following behind him were Kyuubi fought with Naruto for the right to lead the kiss, he also noted Hinata didn't posses the same skill in kissing that he or Kyuubi did although he was certain she would get better with practice.

Hinata's blushed a little deeper "R...r...?" she questioned, Naruto-kun had wanted to kiss her?

"Yeah." Naruto replied with an eager nod which turned into a seductive grin stolen straight from Kyuubi "And it was great! We definitely need to do that more often."

Hinata's blush rose another level, which Naruto immediately dubbed Hinata ultra blush mark VIII, he chuckled quietly to himself as he waited for her to compose herself "W..w..why did y..y..you w..w..wait?" she finally managed to get out, it seemed to go against everything she knew about Naruto; if he wanted to do something he usually did it, to hell with the consequences.

"I didn't want to scare you away." Naruto replied rubbing her back absently "You're just so cute and shy" he grinned and planted a kiss on her nose "I was scared that being too forward would scare you away from me." his eyes darkened slightly "I just wouldn't be able to cope with you hating me too. I won't loose another precious person." he took a deep breath to calm himself forcing back his negative emotions and shunting them to the back of his mind, where they belonged.

Hinata's eyes widened at the last statement, what did he mean by another? Just what had Naruto been through! And why did he think she wouldn't want to be kissed! "I w..w..wanted to kiss y..y..you too Naruto-k..kun" she admitted

"You mean we could've been kissing all this time." he pouted forcing Hinata to cover her giggles with a hand "You really mean that?" he asked more seriously

Hinata bushed and nodded "Yes." she confirmed

Naruto's face lit up in a radiant smile and he snuck another quick kiss from Hinata his lips brushing against hers almost too fast for her to react "Want to go on a quick date?" he asked

Hinata blushed "Ummm a..a..aren't yo...you supposed to s..s..stay in hos..ho..hospital?" she questioned

Naruto gave a nervous grin "Umm well, kinda,yeah." he conceded "But I'm fine, see." he held up his recently unbandaged arm "So I figure, since I'm not injured, I don't really need to stay here." there was a minute pause before adding in a quiet whisper "Besides the less I stay here the less chance the doctors get to do something to me."

Hinata, hanging on Naruto's words, caught the final bit but brushed it aside as being relate to Naruto strong dislike for needles. She was silent for a while a war waging in her head; one the one hand another date with Naruto! But on the other, he _was_ in the hospital and she wanted him to get better. "B..b..but if you get hurt!?" she objected worriedly.

Tears sprung into Naruto's eyes unbidden, Hinata truly cared about his safety! Someone really honestly cared about him other than Kyuubi-chan, old man Teuchi, Ayame-nee-chan, and Hok.... he stopped himself from adding Sarutobi to that list, the still fresh sting of betrayal tempering his joy somewhat. Diving forward he pulled Hinata into a tight hug, his grin growing ever so slightly at the surprised eep his actions earnt from Hinata, "Thank you." he whispered reverently.

Hinata blushed enjoying the close contact with Naruto even as she tried to puzzle out why he had reacted like this; he acted like he had been expecting a card but had received a lavish piece of jewellery or something similarly expensive. She was rapidly discovering an entirely new side to Naruto, one that she had never seen him use around anyone, not even in Ichiraku's where he had seemed so relaxed. A little surge of smugness followed that thought, Naruto had opened up to her, and only her!

Naruto broke the hug giving Hinata a deep kiss, his eyes shining with the tears of happiness he refused to let fall, "After I get out." he confirmed happily as, regrettably, their lips separated once more.

Hinata blushed and nodded eagerly giving him a shy smile "I can't wa..w..wait." she replied, Naruto's smile growing ever larger, Hinata was definitely starting to break out of that shell of hers. He made a quick note to talk to Kyuubi-chan and ensure that that date went perfectly. Hinata glanced at the clock noting the time with a mixture of shock and sadness, had it really been that long? "S..s..sorry . I've got to go." she sighed sadly desperately wishing Naruto would produce a good reason for her missing her clan meeting.

Naruto gave a small nod of acceptance "Oh.. ok then." he gave her a smile and leant forward to plant a small kiss on her cheek "See you tomorrow?"

Hinata nodded "Tomorrow." she agreed readily

Naruto grinned "Hopefully I'll be out of this stupid place by then." he pulled a face showing just what he thought of the hospital.

Hinata giggled gently and stood in place for a moment before darting forward and sneaking a brief kiss from Naruto, this time on the lips, and then retreating from the room with a bright blush.

Naruto chuckled gently as he watched her go, yep she was definitely emerging from her shell.


	33. Chapter 33

Naruto smiled as he took his test from Iruka nodding his head slightly at his favourite teaching in thanks. Picking up his pencil he reflected back on how the last few months had gone, according to Kyuubi-chan the gears of democracy should be well and truly moving by now in regards to his kekkei genkai. Naruto was delighted that he could use his dream scape without worry and he found no end of amusement in how easy it was to fool everyone in the village. Even if the Hokage gave him odd, almost disbelieving looks whenever he brought up the subject of his Gijime, not that he talked with Sarutobi much any more, the sting of betrayal had faded but hadn't faded completely. Kyuubi on the other hand was ecstatic her plans where working perfectly from what she had seen and overheard. She had seen the daughters of people on the council begin to treat Naruto better already, obviously the decision about the CRA had already been made and the crafty old bastards where trying to positions themselves to take maximum advantage of it when the news went public.

Shaking himself out of his revelry Naruto turned his attention to the exam paper in front of him, a small smirk flashing across his features, was this it? Honestly? He had expected more, last years test had been way harder, as had the one before that. Choosing not to look the gift horse in the mouth he quickly filled in the paper.

Flipped his completed paper over Naruto first glanced at the clock, quarter of an hour?! He groaned softly his head flopping forward and impacting the desk, he was going to die of boredom! Especially since Kyuubi-chan was asleep right now.

At his desk Mizuki allowed a small malicious smile to form on his lips as he saw Naruto's forehead meet the wooden desk, to think he had been worried that he hadn't been able to give the demon a harder test this time. The citizens of Konoha could rest easier knowing that that thing would never be a ninja.

"Are you o.. o.. ok Naruto-k..ku..kun?" Hinata whispered giving her boyfriend a worried glance

Naruto turned his head slightly to look at Hinata silently proud of her slow emergence from the wall of shyness she had built around herself. She was stuttering less every day and her fainting spells only manifested if he caught her by surprise or if her mind went deep into the gutter. He could tell some of his playful side had rubbed off on her too although that particular newly discovered facet of her personality only made itself know when she was fairly certain they were alone. "Boooooorrrrreeeedd." Naruto moaned out

Hinata stifled a giggle with her hand "Just fin..fini..f..finish the t..tt.. then." she advised

"I did, that's why I'm borrrrreeeedddd." Naruto replied

Hinata's eyes widened in shock "Really?!" she glanced at her own paper and flicked to the end, she had two questions left that would take, by her best guesstamation, half the remaining fourteen minutes. Naruto gave a nod of confirmation shifting his arms off his paper and flashing the finished questions at her. "Well then c...c..check them." she offered after a moment of answering the next question to placate Iruka's watchful gaze.

"Buuuut Hinata-chaaaaan." he whined "I'm too awesome to make mistakes." he grinned as he got a muffled giggle from the girl.

Iruka cleared his throat loudly shooting a baleful glare at Naruto "Is there something you wish to say Naruto-san?"

Naruto nodded "I finished the test and.." he made a show of clearing his throat "I'm borrrrreeeedddd."

Iruka raised an eyebrow as the class giggled at Naruto's outburst "Are you sure? Have you checked your answers?" Hinata sent Naruto a brief told-you-so look as Iruka echoed her earlier words.

Naruto grinned and nodded "Yeah, I'm done." he affirmed

Iruka sighed and nodded "Alright then, hand in your test and you can leave, but. Be back here before half past. I mean it, don't be late."

Sakura's hand shot up "Ummm I'm done too, can I leave as well?"

Iruka sighed softly but nodded "Yes, hand in your paper and you can go."

Sakura smiled getting up out of her seat and handing in her paper before slipping out of the classroom, Naruto hung back for a moment as he gathered up his paper "Hurry up and finish and we can have some alone time before the next test." he whispered to Hinata as he straightened his eyes lingering on Hinata long enough to catch her blush and smile at him nodding her agreement. Naruto handed his test to Iruka with a smile and paused at the door to blow Hinata a kiss, making the girl blush harder, before stepping outside.

* * *

Naruto was still waiting against the wall when Hinata slipped out of the room about five minutes later, he grinned "Hey Hinata-chan." he greeted sweeping the girl into his arms and kissing her softly.

Hinata moaned quietly, wrapping her arms around Naruto as she kissed back. As they broke the kiss she turned and leant against Naruto, his hands circling round her waist, "How do you think you did?" she asked inwardly proud of getting out a full sentence without a stutter.

Naruto chuckled giving her a gentle squeeze "I told you, I'm too awesome to make mistakes!" he declared leaning in and nipping her neck tenderly, making the young Hyuuga groan softly "How did you do?"

"I..I..I think I d..d..d..dd..did o..o..." the understandably rather flustered girl replied squirming under Naruto's gentle attack on the exposed flesh of her neck

"Ok?" Naruto snorted "I bet you aced it, cause you're way smarter than me, so if I did well you'll have got like perfect marks!"

Hinata blushed under Naruto's praise "W..w..what if you got p..per..pp.. perfect marks then? W..w..would the world e..explode?" she retorted with a little giggle at the adorable, in her opinion, pout that formed on Naruto's face.

"Meanie." he grumbled "No kisses for you." although he never let up his soft rain of kisses on her neck.

Hinata grinned softly "That m...m..means none for y..y..you either." she pointed out

Naruto frowned "Damn, didn't think of that... well then I guess the punishment has to be more kisses!" he declared

Hinata's giggles were cut off as Naruto gently turned her head and kiss her lips, the two of them lapsing into an easy silence as they waited for the first test to end.


	34. Chapter 34

As the first test wound to a close those that had left began gathering back outside the classroom drifting into groups of friends as they chatted over how they did in the test and what answers they gave. "Alright, all of you can come back in now." Iruka spoke loudly so his voice would carry over the many quiet conversations.

Hinata pushed herself gently out of Naruto's arms, already missing their reassuring warmth, and gave him a small smile as the two of them made their way back inside to their usual seats in the upper left corner of the room.

Iruka waited at his desk for the class to settle back down "Alright then, everyone please follow Mizuki-san to the practice grounds for taijutsu and throwing weapon assessment."

Mizuki eye's lingered on Naruto, the demon seemed to have done well at the test, "Actually, why don't you take them out for the physical tests." he offered "I'm afraid I'm not feeling at my best, so I'll stay and grade the papers."

Iruka nodded pushing himself up not able to resist sending a soft smirk Mizuki's way "I told you you'd regret drinking that in the morning."

Mizuki shook his head forcing a good natured chuckle "Yeah, yeah."

Iruka grinned "Alright, change of plans you guys are following me outside for the physical tests."

The class filed out behind Iruka leaving the stuffy classroom behind them as they walked the familiar route to the practice grounds behind the academy.

Naruto led Hinata to the base of a large oak tree and settled down against the broad trunk giving a happy sigh at the welcome cool of the shade "Sit with me."

Hinata gave a small nod settling down next to Naruto as they watched the class take their tests, nether of them really paying any attention to anything, just enjoying the moment. Until, "Hyuuga, Hinata." Iruka's voice called out

Hinata climbed to her feet smoothing out her clothes and began to make her way towards their teacher when she felt a hand grip her arm, lightly so that she wouldn't get hurt, but she wasn't pulling free either. Glancing behind her she noted it was Naruto's arm he leant forward stealing a quick kiss from her, an act that tinted both their cheeks a soft red, "I know you'll do great." he whispered tenderly calming the every present self doubt her family had instilled in her "Go show them how awesome my girlfriend is!" he added loudly beaming as he saw her smile grow slightly bigger as the girl's blush climb a few shades.

Hinata turned and walked toward Iruka taking the proffered weaponry, six kunai and six shuriken, and turning to face the targets. There where five mannequins each a meter apart, the closest five meters from the line she was to throw from and the furthest ten meters from that line. In order to pass you needed to hit the closest target with at least half your weapons and at least three of those hits had to be in lethal areas, of course extra points where awarded for hitting more distant targets, hitting with more weapons or getting more killing blows. She took a calming breath glancing back at Naruto, who gave her a broad grin and a thumbs up, he believed in her and she wouldn't let him down! She chose the target a seven meters, a nice middle ground that she was fairly confident she would be able to hit, and let fly closing her eyes as the last shuriken whistled from her fingers. She didn't want to look, not wanting to see her failure "Good job." Iruka smiled her teachers voice coupled with Naruto's excited whoop giving her the confidence to open her eyes and peer at her chosen target. Four of her kunai had impacted, two in the head, one roughly over the heart and the fourth in the mannequin's thigh and she had hit with five of her six shuriken, in fact four of her throwing stars where lodged in the targets throat, the other two weren't kill shots but they definitely would have disabled a real person, one in it's foot and the last had embedded itself in the dummies crotch.

Hinata's face split into a broad, very un-Hyuuga like, grin "I did it!" she said happily, that many hits on the seven meter target easily passing the exam, she rushed at Naruto and dove into his arms with a happy laugh.

Naruto chuckled squeezing Hinata close "I knew you would." he agreed softly relishing the brief moment where he could see Hinata totally without her shell.

Of course a moment later Hinata's shyness caught up with her and with a strangled "Eep!" she burrowed her head into Naruto's chest. Everyone had seen her throw herself at Naruto like that! She could feel their eyes on her back as they watched a few boys muttering darkly about that lucky little bastard getting the cute Hyuuga whilst the girls wondered not so silently about how she could've chosen the dead-last over Sasuke.

Iruka gave a soft chuckle, ah young love, "Anyway." he spoke up "Next we have Iadra, Jason. Come forward and get your weapons." the crowd turned from the couple to observe how their next classmate did in the test.

Naruto felt Hinata relax now the class wasn't paying attention to them and gave her a soft squeeze "Did you really need to hit that thing in the man parts?" he questioned with a grin "I mean comon, that's harsh."

Hinata blushed "I..i...i..I did..di..didn't mean to." she stuttered

Naruto laughed "Just promise me, no matter how mad you get, you'll never stab _me_ there."

Hinata's blush rose through a few shades as her thoughts drifted to Naruto's crotch "I p..pr..p..promise." she agreed, Naruto giving an over exaggerated sigh of relief, "Unless y..y..you really d..d..des..deserve it." she continued with a soft giggle

Naruto laughed softly "Oooh noooo!" he mock cried "Hinata's gonna stab my boy parts! Someonempphhhh!" his little act was abrubtly halted as a scandalised Hinata clamped her hand over his mouth her eyes darting around to see if anyone had heard his little declaration.


	35. Chapter 35

Hey everyone, I just want to let you know my exams are fast approaching and they may well interfere with my writing times. Also I hope you enjoy the longer chapters that will be coming out for this story ^^.

* * *

A loud collective squeal announced that Iruka had called for Sasuke. "Stupid test, I wanna hug Hinata-chan some more." Naruto grumbled softly, making sure he was loud enough for Hinata to hear however, as he stretched out his muscles he smiled at her "I'm up after the emo-king."

Hinata nodded "I k..k...k..know." she hesitated for a second glancing at the crowd before, satisfied no one was watching, leaning forward and planting a soft kiss on Naruto's cheek "F..f..fo..for luck." she offered with a small smile

Naruto chuckled softly leaning forward and resting his forehead against hers "I thought we covered this." he pouted "I'm too awesome to need luck!" their heads separated and he began to make his way towards the est area pausing after a few steps and turning to face Hinata again his grin becoming softer, more sincere, "Thanks." he spoke gently "I'll be right back, I just need to but Sasuke in his place."

Hinata giggled slightly and nodded "I'll be w..watching." she promised "Byakugan!" she intoned the veins around her eyes bulged as chakra pushed through them

He pushed his way through the throng of people surrounding the testing area coming to the front just in time to see Sasuke throw the last of his knives at the targets managing to nick the furthers target but not landing a solid hit Naruto ran his eyes over the targets. Sasuke had all six shuriken embedded firmly in the seven meter target, each in a lethal position, three of his kunai had hit the nine meter target and a scratch indicated that a fourth had been thrown however only two of the hits that had landed would had killed the target. Iruka nodded "Good job Sasuke, you've got the highest score so far." he praised Sasuke, setting off a predictable tide of praise from the girls of the class, giving a small grunt in response, of course he was the best, he was a Uchiha.

Iruka went and pulled the kunai free of the targets, gathering up the ones that had missed from the ground, before glancing at his list, not that he needed it by now, "Uzumaki, Naruto." he announced

Naruto grinned as he took the offered weaponry, finally a subject he was actually good at! He weighed the weapons getting a feel for their weight and checking the balance, a reflex born of using poor quality weapons where the balance was prone to changing from knife to knife.

Taking a soft breath he stepped into position palming the knives before letting them fly, his first four hits slammed straight into the head and chest of the seven meter target earning him cheers from the councilmen's' daughters and grumbles from others. He sighed and shook his head, this was boring, waaaay too easy. He glanced down at his remaining weapons, two kunai and six shuriken, and smiled flicking the two knives at the nine metre target. They landed at about the same height on his chest one on the left, that would have pierced the heart of a real human, and one on the right. Nodding to himself Naruto let the six shuriken fly in quick succession each on hitting its mark with a resound thud as the steel edge bit into the wooden dummy. The class erupted into giggles as the last shuriken embedded itself in the unfortunate target's belly and Iruka shook his head despite the grin tugging at his lips, he didn't know whether to be annoyed or proud of the steel smiley face now embedded in the nine meter target "Well I can't fault your accuracy... I guess." he muttered

Naruto laughed and grinned ignoring the crowd as he made his way back towards Hinata his broad grin growing slightly when he saw the smile adorning her face, the bulging veins that framed her Byakugan receding as he came towards her "Y..y...you di..di..did well Naruto-kun." Hinata praised softly.

Naruto laughed and grinned as he plopped himself down next to his shy girlfriend "Thanks, I guess your luck really helped." he chuckled making Hinata blush slightly#

"Alright, now for the taijutsu section." Iruka announced "Again, I'll call you out in alphabetical order. When your name is called join me in the sparring ring, the goal of the task is to avoid a solid hit from me for as long as you can." he grinned his eyes drifting to Sasuke and Naruto "OR you can try and hit me, if you manage to land a good blow on me or last for at least a minute then you pass this test."

The class glanced at each other slightly worried, wasn't Iruka-sensei a Chûnin! How were they supposed to fight that?! However seeing their worry Iruka grinned "Don't worry I'll be going easy." he reassured them "Anyway first up; Aburame, Shino" the boy stepped forward into the ring watching Iruka behind his dark glasses as Iruka rattled off the rules for their spar "No jutsu, no weapons, and no insects." he waited for the stoic boy to nod his approval before slipping into his own stance "Alright then, good luck. Start!"

* * *

Once again Naruto and Hinata tuned out the rest of the class as they sat together, their shoulders touching, as they drew strength form each other. Naruto felt the weight on his shoulder increase and Hinata leant further against him he smiled warmly and began to run a hand absently through her hair, how _did_ she keep it so soft? It was like stroking silk. Hearing a soft sawing sound he glanced at Hinata out of the corner of his eye and chuckled, she'd fallen asleep, she was resting her head on his shoulder her eyes closed as she snored gently, he smiled peacefully, Hinata-chan even snored beautifully.

* * *

"Hyuuga, Hinata." Iruka's voice cut across the crowd

Naruto glanced at Hinata seeing she wasn't about to wake up any time soon, it really did seem to be a shame to wake her, if the smile on her face was any indication she was having a good dream, he sighed and shook her softly "Wake up, Hinata-chan, wake up." he cooed.

Hinata squirmed slightly at the sound of his voice snuggling herself against him, making Naruto blush, "'Nother five minutes, sleepy" he speech became indecipherable mumbles into his shoulder for a bit "... ruto-kun" she finished, Naruto's blush increased slightly, Ruto-kun huh?

"Hinata!" Iruka called "Your turn!"

He gently shook Hinata "Come on Hinata, wake up." he hissed insistently "It's your turn."

Hinata's eyes slowly opened "Huh?" she mumbled blearily "I was having a good dream."

Naruto chuckled "Your turn to fight Iruka, you can go back to sleep afterwards, ok?"

Naruto's words as well as the situation finally pierced the sleep induced haze of her brain and she stiffened, she'd fallen asleep on Naruto-kun! She knew she shouldn't have stayed up the late last night! What if he was mad! At this point what he had said hit home and her cheeks lit up, he'd said she could sleep on him again! Only the fact she was still leaning against Naruto kept her from swaying "Umm Hinata-chan, Iruka-sensei's waiting." Naruto reminded her.

Hinata gasped softly and leapt to her feet rushing, as fast as was dignified, to Iruka Naruto following her with a grin "Good luck Hinata-chan, try not to kick his ass too badly!"

Iruka smiled as he saw a flustered Hinata emerge from the class and step into the sparring ring, an amused Naruto standing on the edge of the ring watching Hinata expectantly. His slightly annoyed frown morph into a knowing grin as his eyes flitted between the pair "I'm sorry, did I interrupt your fun?" he teased

Hinata's face changed into a slightly confused frown, what did Iruka-sensei mean by that? Whilst Naruto, who definitely knew _exactly_ what Iruka had implied, lit up in a bright blush "N..n..n..no! We di..dii.. didn't!" he stammered shaking his head frantically.

Iruka burst out laughing, there reactions where completely inverted! Naruto was acting like Hinata and Hinata like the normal, clueless, Naruto! Of course that quickly supplied a mental image of the two wearing each others clothes which only served to worsen his laughing fit.

Naruto frowned and turned to Hinata "Forget what I said Hinata, kick his ass!" he exclaimed

Hinata blushed softly, he had such confidence in her, he really thought she could beat a Chûnin, her teacher no less, it seemed completely at odds with almost everything else anyone had said about her abilities. She took a deep calming breath "Byakugan!" the veins around her eyes bulged, she'd give it her best shot, for Naruto.

Seeing Hinata was ready to fight Iruka brought his laughter under control and got into the academy stance although he couldn't help but through a jibe Naruto's way as he did so "Getting your girlfriend to fight your battles then Naruto?"

The low growl that escaped Naruto's throat made those student around him back off "Oh, I can't wait till my turn."

Iruka shook his head chuckling softly "Alright Hinata, you know the rules?"

Hinata blushed "Ummm. C..can you r..re..repeat them?" she asked, she hadn't really been paying any attention to the fights before this.

Iruka chuckled and nodded "No jutsu or weapons, and in your case only use a small amount of chakra in your strikes." he grinned "Alright, ready?" Hinata nodded "Start!"

Hinata shot forward even as the word was leaving Iruka's lips striking out at his legs aiming to end the fight quickly. Iruka reacted on instinct and spun around the strike, she was fast! Most Chûnin and any Jōnin would still be able to dance circles around her but still, for an academy student that was very impressive.

Hinata turned on her heels and once more pressed her offensive forcing Iruka backwards towards the edge of the ring. What had gotten into Hinata! She normally fought purely defensively, but now. He found himself getting more and more frustrated with the academy taijutsu style, with few dodges and a lot of blocks it was a very poor style to use against a Hyuuga.

"Woo! Go Hinata!" Naruto cheered happily his previous anger completely forgotten as he watched his girlfriend force their teacher on the defensive and keep him there, sure she might not be landing any blows but Iruka was having to focus entirely on his defensive manoeuvres.

Hinata slowed her attacks for a brief second and blushed in response to Naruto's praise and that fraction of a second was all the time Iruka needed to switch to the offensive. Hinata taking a few glancing blows as she struggled to cope with the sudden switch from offensive to defensive. Iruka pressed his advantage pushing Hinata back and regaining the ground he had lost during her attacks before finally spotting a small hole in her guard and going for it, his foot landing firmly on her chest and driving the air from her lungs, ending the spar. Iruka grinned "Wow, you lasted for two and a half minutes Hinata, great job!"

Hinata gasped to refill her lungs feeling numb, she'd failed Naruto-kun! She'd tried, she really had, but it still wasn't enough! He must hate her now... A heavy sob heaved through her body as her eyes filled with tears, she'd blown it, her one chance with Naruto, all because she was so weak, so useless.

Naruto ran out to Hinata grinned broadly, her fight was awesome! "Hey Hinata-chan?" his grin faded into a worried frown as he approached "Are you ok?" he questioned worriedly bending down to try and see her face despite her bowed head and seeing tears in her eyes "You're crying! Did Iruka-sensei hurt you!" he shot a glare at Iruka even as he asked the question.

Hinata shook her head "I'm sorry." she whispered quietly

Naruto frowned leaning down next to Hinata "What do you mean? Sorry for what?" he asked quietly aware that everyone in the class was staring

"I..I..I let you d..." Hinata continued "I tr..tried my har..ha..hard..hardest but I coul..co..couldn't even touch Iruka-s..sensei! I'm a f..f..failure, and..and.. now you hate meeee" her mee changing into a keening whine as she sobbed her tears finally falling as she told Naruto of her failure.

Naruto frowned deeply "Look at me Hinata." he urged "Look at me."

Iruka made his way forward wanting to help his sobbing student but a look from Naruto stopped him in his tracks giving Naruto a small, almost imperceivable, nod to show he understood he stood to watch although he remained ready to join in should he deem it necessary.

Hinata slowly lifted her head to look in Naruto's eyes finding them still filled with the same kindness and adoration she always saw when he looked at her instead of the disappointment or hatred she's been expecting. He placed his hands on her shoulders gazing deep into her eyes "You didn't fail me!" he insisted strongly "You tried your best, I saw it, you did great!" his eyes never left hers as his toned just dared her to say otherwise.

"B.." Hinata began before Naruto cut her off, gently shaking her

"No buts!" he snapped angrily he moved his head forward so his forehead was touching hers "Hinata," this time his voice was quiet and emotional "I love you, no matter what happens you'll never ever be a failure in my eyes." he leant forward pressing his lips to hers tenderly, the moment somewhat spoiled by the murmurs of the class as they watched, the girls awwing at the romantic scene whilst the boys mumbling about the dead last getting a girlfriend before they did.

Hinata froze "Y..y..you love me?" she echoed in disbelief

Naruto nodded "Yes, with all my heart." he smiled warmly "You're the kindest, sweetest, most beautiful, most perfect person I've ever met. I don't know who keeps telling you that you're a failure but they're clearly insane, so don't pay any attention to them!"

'Pfff what am I then.' Kyuubi asked, Naruto could hear the pout on her voice

'You know that everything I've said about Hinata applies to you too Kyuubi-chan.' Naruto replied happily 'Have a good sleep.'

'Yeah, I did.' Kyuubi yawned back 'So if you feel like that why didn't you ever tell me?' now there was a faint hint of actual jealousy in her voice

Hinata sniffed back her tears and kissed Naruto firmly on the lips "Thank you." she whispered softly "Thank you."

Naruto grinned as he stroked Hinata's head holding her close to him "No need to thank me, it's the truth." he replied 'I've been thinking about how I felt about both of you for a while.' Naruto admitted slowly 'I didn't really mean to say all of it, I just needed to tell her she wasn't a failure and it just kinda came out.' He glanced at Hinata who had gone limp in his arms and found the girls had fallen asleep once again, emotionally exhausted. Lifting the girl up he carried her back through the crowd and leant her down by the tree bending down and kissing her forehead "Pleasant dreams Hinata-chan." he murmured softly before taking his seat next to her to wait for his turn to fight Iruka.

Iruka shook his head and smiled warmly, young love really was beautiful, "Alright, back to business, Iadra, Jason come forward please."

'So.. what do you feel about me?' Kyuubi asked after a pause her voice sounding slightly nervous and hopeful along small traces of jealousy still lingering in her tone, despite her best attempts to disguise them.

Naruto gave a soft smile glancing up at the sky 'Kyuubi-chan, you know I love you, I know you do. You're the first person who ever said they loved me, I have no way of saying how important you are to me.' he sighed softly 'I'd happily face anything if it would make you even the slightest bit happier, you are my one confidant, the one who I know I can trust. You're perfect in almost every sense of the word, I know I'll never deserve your love yet you give it to me anyway.' he shook his head 'Honestly I really don't know how to word this, anything I can say about you just doesn't feel strong enough to describe my feelings.'

'Oh, Naruto'. Kyuubi murmured softly 'Come in here and kiss me!'

Naruto chuckled softly leaning against the tree, he knew that tone was for when no wasn't an acceptable answer, 'Gladly.' he agreed enthusiastically closing his eyes and concentrating finding himself deposited right outside Kyuubi-chan's house. Smiling he opened the door and stepped inside only to be bowled back out the door as a happy Kyuubi tackle-glomped him her tails trailing behind her as she dove at Naruto.

Before Naruto really knew what has happening he was lying on the grass with Kyuubi's tongue trying to force it's way down his throat. He groaned into the kiss as he collected his wits and began to reciprocate wrapping his arms around Kyuubi as she wrapped her tails around his, her hands fisting in his hair and holding his face against hers. They broke apart after a few minutes of frantic kissing that probably would've been impossible in the real world where breathing was necessary for life. "Did you mean it?" Kyuubi asked "What you said?"

Naruto nodded removing one hand from her back and cupping her cheek "Of course I did, I'm just sorry I couldn't word it better." he shook his head and frowned, it was hard to voice his feelings for either Kyuubi-chan or Hinata-chan.

"No, you did fine, perfect even." Kyuubi reassured him darting forward for another heavy kiss and feverantly wishing for Naruto to take it further, she had promised him she wouldn't push as long as he told her when he was ready. He really didn't understand exactly how worked up these sessions made her!

They broke apart Naruto smiled as he lay in the grass with Kyuubi watching the clouds in the sky of his mindscape drift by Naruto filling Kyuubi in on what she'd missed so far in the exams their chat occasionally interspersed by kissing sessions.


	36. Chapter 36

Naruto pushed himself to his feet grinning broadly, oh yes, Iruka was gonna pay for the joke earlier and for interrupting his time with Kyuubi-chan. He closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again, the illusion of his kekkei genkai now in place, taking one last quick glance at Hinata he made his way to the sparring ring. Taijutsu was always one of his worst skills, next to genjutsu and anything that required patience, but with Kyuubi-chan's help he had finally got the academy style down and he was confident he would be able to kick Iruka-sensei's butt.

Iruka gulped softly as he saw the scheming grin on Naruto face, that grin never meant anything good, "Umm are you ready?" he asked shaking off his worry

Naruto nodded "Yeah, I'm good Iruka-sensei." he agreed rotating his arms to loosen them up and dropping into the usual academy style.

Iruka allowed himself a sigh of relief, Naruto was just using the academy style, he had been worried that he'd used his eyes to learn something more advanced "Ok, ready.... go!"

Naruto ran forward immediately opening with a flurry of kicks and punches that Iruka diverted or dodged. Iruka jumped back putting a little distance between them hoping her could get himself on the offensive, Naruto was good, for an academy student, his forms were still a little jerky the style obviously didn't suit the young ninja but he was fast. Based on what he had seen so far Iruka would place him on the upper end of average, but considering he had been near the bottom only a few months ago it was a spectacular improvement.

Closing the gap Iruka had created Naruto continued his offensive frowning as Iruka easily diverted his strikes and wove around all his attacks. Iruka grinned as he saw Naruto beginning to get frustrated and decided to rile him up further "Come on Naruto, your girlfriend did better than this." he teased.

Naruto smiled warmly and nodded "Yeah, she's awesome isn't she." he said softly, Iruka raised an eyebrow surprised, he really did like her didn't he?

Naruto struck out with a quick kick aimed at Iruka's knee but the Chûnin grinned and grabbed Naruto's leg "Got ya." he muttered twisting with the momentum of Naruto's kick and adding his own, wrenching Naruto off his feet and tossing him out of the arena. Iruka knew that he was showing off a little by winning that way but he didn't really mind, Naruto had already impressed him enough to pass this section of the exam and even if he hadn't landed a solid blow a few bruises stood testament to the force behind his attacks.

Naruto pushed his face out of the dirt spitting to clear his mouth of the horrible, lingering, taste "Ugh, I'll get you for that Iruka-sensei." he groused good naturedly

Iruka chuckled and nodded "Sure you will." he agreed before turning his attention to the rest of the class "So does anyone have any weapon skills they wish to display." he asked hoping none of them would be like that Ten-ten girl last year who had spend a full hour going through all her proficiencies with him. He nodded as around six hands went up and called the volunteers forward. Naruto trudged back over to Hinata's sleeping form, letting his bloodline fade as he went, and sat down rubbing the leg Iruka had tossed him by, it was slightly sore but the pain was fading quickly 'I guess this means more taijutsu practice?'

Kyuubi nodded 'Yeah, it does." she confirmed 'But you did very well.'

'Very well?' Naruto muttered 'He kicked my ass!'

'He's a Chûnin and you aren't even a ninja yet.' Kyuubi retorted

'Hmmph!' Naruto grunted 'I'll be a ninja in about an hour.'

'But you're not one now, are you.' Kyuubi pressed

Deflating, Naruto conceded to point 'No, not yet'

Kyuubi nodded 'Your speed was good and your strength, the only problem you had was the lack of reflexes, you simply haven't used the style long enough for it to be fluid.' she shrugged 'That and a more offensive style would suit you better.'

Naruto nodded a soft smile on his face as he basked in the praise he had craved for so many years, he knew the style didn't suit him but he hadn't seen anyone using a style he liked 'Ummm do you know any good styles that I could use?' he asked

Kyuubi gave a sigh and shook her head 'No, I thought we'd covered this. Me fox demon, you human. I never really learnt any human styles, at least I never learnt anything more than the very first forms.' She shrugged

Naruto slumped slightly and nodded 'Right, sorry.' he replied pausing for a second 'Didn't you say you could make me into a hanyou? Then I can use what you can teach me!'

Kyuubi frowned softly 'I can.' she agreed softly 'But I won't, not now, not yet.' she had to admit that the thought of a hanyou, or even full demon, Naruto certainly appealed much more to her the more she thought on it but he would almost definitely gain some more traits that would be hard to hide and would cause Naruto far more trouble than it was worth.

Naruto frowned 'Why not?' he questioned, Kyuubi was saved from having to answer as a soft groan from Hinata caught Naruto's attention and he turned his head to see her eyes fluttering as she slowly awoke "Hinata-chan." he grinned.

Hinata's eyes opened softly as she looked around her taking a moment to register her surroundings "Naruto-kun?" she muttered recognising his voice

"Yes?" Naruto answered

Hinata locked onto the source of the voice and hugged him fiercely "Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed happily hugging him tight as though afraid he would vanish if she let go. Naruto wrapped his arms around her frail form with a warm smile and absently rubbed her back in what he hoped was a caring way she was muttering something but he couldn't quite catch what so he strained his ears to listen to her whispered mantra "Thank you, thank you."

Naruto shook his head softly running a hand through her hair and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead "No need to thank me." he assured her but she continued to anyway. Eventually the two of them just lapsed back into a silence.

Iruka finished with the last of the weapons tests and nodded looking around the throng of students, satisfied that they were as clam as they were going to get "Alright everyone!" he announced "Let's go inside and we'll move to the ninjutsu and genjutsu part of the test." Turning smartly on his heels Iruka began to make his way back inside the class following on his heels.

Naruto groused softly as he pushed himself to his feet holding out his hand to help pull Hinata up, Hinata blushed and hesitated for a split second before accepting the proffered hand with a gentle smile. Naruto smiled as he wrapped his hand around hers, enjoying the smooth feeling of her skin against his rougher, calloused, hand, and pulled her to her feet "Come on lets go get our headbands!" he declared happily heading after the class tugging Hinata behind him.

* * *

As the class filed back into their room Iruka smiled as he walked over to Mizuki "You finished the marking?" he asked as he slid into his seat.

Mizuki nodded and gave a small smile in return "Yeah, not a bad crop this year."

Iruka shook his head and grinned absently rubbing a few of the bruises he'd gained from his various spars "Tell me about it." he took the sheets of paper and leafed through them doing a quick count to ensure none of them had gone missing and nodding as he found them all there "So how your _mysterious headache_" Iruka joked air quoting the final two words with a grin.

Mizuki shook his head "Fine, the quiet did it some good." he replied shooting a glare at the class "Of course it's staging a come back now." Iruka laughed once more and nodded turning his attention back to the class running through a quick series of hand signs under the table, the class falling almost perfectly silent save for the occasional mumble. "What are they seeing?" Mizuki asked

"The Hokage coming in to give a speech." Iruka replied with a shrug

"Huh? Is the old man coming here?" Naruto's voice rang across the classroom

"Naruto?!" Iruka exclaimed "You can hear us?"  
Naruto blinked "Yeah, of course I can. Why? Shouldn't I be able to?" he asked confused, Iruka made the hand seals once again focusing the genjutsu on Naruto who had no visible reaction "Well?" Naruto pressed when there was no answer forthcoming.

Iruka and Mizuki's eyes widened "Well I think you pass the genjutsu exam." Iruka said stunned, the technique had had no affect on the boy, was the fox helping? Genjutsu was the fox's speciality after all.

"You used a genjutsu on me?" Naruto accused

Iruka nodded "Yeah, bit it didn't seem to have any affect." he frowned "Do you know why?"

Naruto blanched for a second, a grin then flashed across his face before it settled into a look of concentration "Umm I don't really know, I felt a weird tingly sensation in my eyes for a moment. Could that be it?" he asked aloud 'Hey Kyuubi-chan? Do you know why it didn't work?' he questioned

Iruka and Mizuki exchanged glances, they knew roughly what his eyes could do from a report the Hokage had circulated and it hadn't mentioned anything about immunity from genjutsu. Of course it did make sense, Naruto's kekkei genkai was obviously an ancestor of the Sharingan and that could see through genjutsu too. Both Chûnin filed the information away, Mizuki so he could use it against the little demon and Iruka so he could inform the Hokage of the new discovered ability. "So it was your eyes?" Iruka pushed wanting a confirmation from Naruto.

'Yeah, I do.' Kyuubi answered Naruto's question 'It's because of my youki in your system, genjutsu is the art of turning the opponents chakra against them using your own to direct their chakra to move as you will. But because of both the sheer quantity of chakra you contain and the additional power of my youki such a weak genjutsu would never work.' she paused 'And good save on the explanation.'

Naruto beamed at Kyuubi's praise "Yeah,it was." he agreed passing off his grin as happiness over discovering a new power his eyes held "That's so awesome!" he added enthusiastically wanting to reinforce that idea. 'So why won't weak genjutsu work, and what will work then?' he pressed Kyuubi.

'Well trying a low level genjutsu like that is like trying to divert a river with a single plank of wood. In order to make it affect you they will need to put a lot more chakra into the technique. Some S ranked genjutsu might be able to affect you but a small surge of youki will instantly break any genjutsu you do get placed under.'

Naruto's grin got even broader, he was almost totally immune to genjutsu! "So what now?" he asked

Iruka shrugged "Wait for the others to break out of the genjutsu." he instructed. Naruto nodded and leant back in his chair closing his eyes and communing with Kyuubi to pass the time, the two teachers shared another look before returning to watching the class smiling faintly as they felt surges of chakra from the few pupils that had already figured out they were in a genjutsu.

* * *

Ten minutes later Iruka took pity on the last few stragglers still caught in his genjutsu and released the technique, the wide eyed confusion on the faces of the newly freed students sending ripples of laughter through the rest of the class. After giving the more confused pupils a few moments to get reconnected to reality he clapped his hands for silence. After waiting the few seconds it took for the noise to actually peter out Iruka spoke up once more "Alright everyone, now we move on to the final part of the exam. The ninjutsu test." he paused for a moment letting his gaze pass over the class "When I call your name you will come forward and demonstrate your ability to perform the three academy jutsu, then you may perform up to two other jutsu as extra credit. If those jutsu are offensive in nature then we will take you out to the target range after the test to allow you to demonstrate it, do not use an offensive jutsu inside." he glowered at the class to reinforce his message "Is that clear."

A, disharmonous, chorus of "Yes sensei!" echoed back from the class

Iruka gave a satisfied nod "Alright; Aburame, Shino"

Naruto grinned as he turned his illusion on to watch the class perform, they might have some tricks worth learning and he'd rather have an excuse as to how he'd learnt it, "So, Hinata? Do you have any extra jutsu you're going to show Iruka-sensei?" he asked leaning back in his chair watching Shino's clone with only slight interest.

Hinata shook her head "N..n..no." she said softly

Naruto let his seat fall back into place and pouted "Me neither, my stupid sensei refused to teach me anything else."

'Oi!' Kyuubi huffed 'I told you we needed to work on the three academy jutsu, you know the ones you need to actually pass the exam.'

'Still!' Naruto protested 'You said you knew thousands of jutsu! Can't you teach me even one?!', Hinata giggling at the childish pout one his face when he had insulted this teacher of his... wait, teacher? She'd never seen Naruto with a teacher. He always trained alone... didn't he?

"Ummmm... Who is y..y..your t..teacher?" Hinata asked

Naruto swore profusely in his head, he'd said teacher?! Stupid, stupid! Wracking his brain he quickly searched for a get out clause "Iruka-sensei, of course!" he answered breathing a small sigh of relief when he saw the look of understanding flash across Hinata's face. 'Well can't you teach me even one of those thousand jutsu?'

Kyuubi gave a nervous chuckle, a habit she had somewhat picked up off Naruto, 'Ummm well I don't really know thousands of jutsu, I know of that many, but I don't really know how to use human jutsu. They aren't really designed to be used with youki so I never managed to use them.'

Naruto deflated and gave a disappointed groan causing Hinata to glance at him "W..what's wrong N..nnn Naruto-k..kun?" she asked

Naruto waved off her question "It's nothing, don't worry about it." he assured her with a grin however she still looked sceptical so he leant over and gave her a small peck on the cheek and another smile "Really, I'm fine." seeing Hinata accepting his reassurance now he turned his attention inwards once more 'So, how many jutsu do you know?'

Kyuubi hesitated 'Human jutsu? Not many, maybe ten, twelve, tops.' there was a pause and Naruto could almost feel her shrug 'But they're all S rank, there's no way you could use one without people asking questions we won't be able to answer, heck even practicing form most of them will level acres of forest.'

Naruto was practically drooling as he considered what kind of jutsu could level that much land whilst practicing 'You've got to teach me those!' he demanded

Kyuubi giggled and smiled softly glad that Naruto wasn't holding any resentment towards her for that little, well it hadn't exactly been a lie but she had deliberately worded the truth to make him believe something else. 'I will, when we find somewhere you can practice without getting caught.' she said

'Promise.' Naruto prompted eagerly

Kyuubi gave an unseen nod 'Promise.' she agreed, pausing for a moment before continuing a lusty leer on her face 'Of course you'll need to repay me... _somehow_.' she whispered huskily.

Naruto felt his face flush red and the heat of arousal stir around in his stomach 'Don't worry I will.' he agreed eagerly, that one almost always preceded the best make out sessions he had with Kyuubi-chan.

Kyuubi smiled 'Gooood' she purred 'I can't wait.'

Naruto nodded his agreement to Kyuubi's statement but didn't voice it, turning his attention back to the exam he focused on forcing his blush back down and quashing the fire Kyuubi's tone had lit in his belly. "You're next aren't you." he asked glancing at Hinata

"Yeah." Hinata mumbled taking deep breaths to calm herself before the exam she barely registered the question or her own response. However she couldn't ignore it when Naruto pulled her into a hug and planted a quick kiss on her lips.

He grinned as they separated "Your luck really helped me in my spar so I'm giving it back." he declared before leaning in and sneaking another kiss just as Iruka called her name "And there's my luck too, you know, just in case." his grin widened "Show them how awesome I know you are!" Hinata blushed red under Naruto's loud praise and felt his confidence buoying her up once again, her face setting into a determined frown as she walked down to the front of the class, despite his reassurances to the contrary she still felt she had let Naruto down somehow during her fight with Iruka and she would not fail him again! Ever! Iruka nodded "Alright Hinata, why don't you start with a... clone; we need at least three clones to pass."

Hinata nodded curtly "Ok." she replied with a firmness and confidence no-one, except Naruto, knew she possessed. She flashed through the hand seals and called five clones into being.

Iruka and Mizuki exchanged a glance, this was a side of Hinata they didn't know existed, well Iruka had seen it once before, during their spar earlier today. Iruka allowed a small serene smile to form on his face, Naruto really was helping Hinata overcome her shyness and self confidence issues.


	37. Chapter 37

Hey everyone, I'm baack. Sorry for the massive delays, I had my exams then my laptop decided to die on me but I'm happy to report my exams are over and I've comendeered my brothers laptop on a slightly more permanent basis so I should be getting right back on track ^^. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Hinata smiled softly as she dispelled her clones and walked back up the class dropping back into her seat with a small pleased grin on her face "I did it." she muttered pleased.

Naruto gave her a broad grin and wrapped an arm around her "Of course you did." he offered "It told you, you are awesome!" he paused for a moment his grin growing slightly "Not as awesome as me, but still awesome." he leant over and kissed her gently on the cheek "I knew you'd do it" he continued his voice soft and sincere, the voice of what Hinata was rapidly realising was the real Naruto, the one hidden behind the false smiles and loud exclamations.

Hinata flushed red and smiled softly at Naruto "T.. thank you." Naruto didn't reply verbally but just gave Hinata a small gentle smile.

* * *

Soon enough it was Naruto's turn to display his ninjutsu, Sasuke shooting him a challenging smirk as the blonde ninja to-be walked to the front of the class, challenging Naruto to beat his own display of ten near-perfect clones. Iruka nodded a smiled at Naruto "Alright then, let's see your henge." he paused for a fraction of a second before adding hurriedly "And no funny business!"

Naruto let a small pout cross his face "Awwww." he whined softly before shrugging and flashing through the hand seals with a practiced ease "Henge!" he announced firmly as a thing shroud of smoke concealed his form for a few moments. As the smoke faded it revealed the figure of the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who gave a very Naruto-like foxy grin "Yo."

Iruka and Mizuki exchanged a glance, if it wasn't for the fact they new it was a henge and the way he was acting they could have sworn they were looking at their Hokage. "Very good, Naruto." Mizuki said with a nod, Iruka giving a silent nod of agreement and noting down in the file that Naruto's henge was exemplary.

"So what now?" Naruto enquired eagerly letting the henge fade away now it had served its purpose

"Show us the kawarimi." Iruka instructed with a soft smile.

Naruto nodded and scanned the class for something he could swap with, making a point of ignoring the log that had been placed in the corner of the room for just that purpose. A scheming grin slowly formed as he flicked through the , brief, series of hand signs and focused his chakra. In a small puff of chakra he swapped himself with his seat grinning, Hinata gave a soft "Eep!" of surprise as Naruto suddenly appeared next to her.

Although her surprised squeak was cut off as Naruto stole a kiss from Hinata with a broad grin and an exclamation of "Surprise!" before swapping back with his seat and returning to the front of the classroom a silly grin on his face and leaving a bright red Hinata in his wake.

Iruka sighed and shook his head although he did smile softly "Alright , your kawarimi is good." he conceded before a soft frown settled on his features, now came Naruto's worse technique, he prayed the young boy would be able to pass where he had failed so many times before throughout the year. "Now, finally, will you show us your clones, I need you to form at least three convincing clones." he leant forward resting his head on his meshed fingers.

In the back of the classroom Hinata also frowned softly in worry for her blonde boyfriend, she knew, perhaps better than anyone else, exactly how much practice Naruto had put into his clones throughout the year without success "Naruto-kun." she mumbled quietly, perhaps if she wished hard enough Naruto would be able to pull off another miracle like his arm, her frown deepened slightly into a frown of genuine annoyance and anger as the memory of that particular night flashed through her mind, what had Naruto-kun done to deserve that kind of treatment from the villagers and why exactly did he seem to consider such actions normal!

Naruto smiled broadly "No problem!" he declared loudly, thanks to Kyuubi-chan he had finally found out exactly why his clones had never worked properly, he simply had too much chakra and overloaded the technique, the outer shell of chakra that stabilised the clone just couldn't contain the vast amount of chakra he placed in each clone. Unfortunately Kyuubi had also informed Naruto that he would need high Jōnin or possibly even kage level control in order to pull that technique off and since he couldn't really improve control without simultaneously increasing is available reserves it was unlikely he would ever be able to perform the clone technique. However Naruto had never been one to take no for an answer and had found another solution to his problem. He had remembered Iruka telling the class what hand signs were for and that had got him thinking, if he just ignored hand signs entirely then he would greatly increase the chakra cost of each clone he made and that would allow him to perform the technique without needing years worth of chakra control training. "Clone jutsu!" he announced firmly smirking as twenty clones burst into existence around him, Hhe grimaced slightly as he saw four of his clones looked sickly and bloated, obviously he still needed more practice, but was pleased that he had at least gotten the number of clones he was aiming for, his first attempt had resulted in the formation of around five hundred clones instead of the ten he had been going for, "How's that?" he grinned at his teachers, smirking slightly as he felt Sasuke-teme's jealous glare burn against the back of his head.

A look of annoyance flashed across Mizuki's face for a moment but was quickly quashed by the experienced shinobi and replaced with an impressed smile "Sixteen working clones." he said

Iruka nodded dumbly regaining his composure "Uhhh yes, and no hand signs, very impressive." he added making a note on his paper "You definitely pass this section of the test." Naruto beamed at his favourite teacher, dispelling his clones, before making his way back to his seat and smiling at Hinata, who smiled back softly happy that Naruto had been able to perform the clone jutsu so well.

* * *

Once the rest of the class had gone through the test, Iruka picked up his mark book and quickly scanned it to ensure every student had at least some marks in each section "Alright does anyone have any other jutsu they wish to show us outside?" he questioned. Almost immediately Sasuke's hand shot up and the boy shot a challenging glare at Naruto just daring the blonde boy to try and beat him at this part of the exam, in addition Kiba's hand went up, the young Inuzuka eager to show off his newly learnt fang over fang technique.

Iruka and Mizuki nodded "Anyone else?" Mizuki asked scanning the class and when no other student was forthcoming he nodded and took the mark book from Iruka

"Alright we'll go out into the target ranges and you can display your jutsu, the rest of you have a hour to relax before we announce the rest before we announce the results." Iruka spoke up pushing himself out of the seat and grinning "If anyone wants they can come and watch Sasuke and Kiba perform their jutsu." he gave a little sigh and shook his head as that set off a small cascade of girlish muttering about going to watch their _sasuke-kun_. "Alright class dismissed, see you in one hour." he said "Sasuke, Kiba, follow me. Oh. And Mizuki, there is some aspirin in the nurse's office if your _headache_ is getting to you." the verbal air quotes around the word headache were obvious and Iruka smirked softly as he heard Mizuki's annoyed growl in reply.

* * *

The class had congregated outside their classroom after the hour break they had been given and Iruka started calling people in and they either came out with headbands or didn't, so far it seemed that only a third of the class was passing and with each person who failed to get his, or her, headband the rest of the class got more and more nervous.

Hinata took a shaky breath as June stepped into the classroom to get her results and, if she passed, her headband. She would be going in next and she just couldn't stop the thoughts of failure bouncing through her head, what would she do if she didn't pass, what would her father do! What would Naruto do if she betrayed his trust so! Naruto took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze to catch her attention "You'll do fine." he spoke softly when Hinata looked up at him, he gave her his best smile, "Trust me, there's no way you can fail."

"But..." Hinata began to protest, she was really happy Naruto had such faith in her but she really didn't feel she could live up to his expectations.

Naruto let go of her hand and placed his hands on her shoulders his own fierce gaze meeting her timid, uncertain, one "How many times do I have to say this, you're not a failure!" he insisted "And when I find whoever it is who put that stupid idea idea in your head I'm gonna kick their ass." he growled quietly, speaking more to himself than Hinata "I know you will pass this test, and even if, by some..." he paused searching for a good phrase his forehead scrunching in that adorable, in Hinata's opinion, way it always did whenever Naruto was thinking hard "Freak chance," he continued finally making up his mind "fail this exam I will still love you and I won't think any less of you."

"P.. p..promise?" Hinata asked gently acutely aware of just how many classmates where now eavesdropping on their, supposedly private, conversation.

"Hyuuga, Hinata, your turn." Iruka interrupted before Naruto could respond, a disappointed June trying, with little success, to use Iruka as a distraction to slip away before her friends saw she hadn't received a headband.

Naruto held onto Hinata's hand for a second as she tried to follow Iruka into the classroom and leant in planting a small kiss on her cheek "I promise." he agreed with another smile as he released her hand and let her enter the classroom.

Naruto leant against the wall opposite the door to wait for what would surely be the longest minute or two of his life, he had every confidence that Hinata would pass but he still couldn't quiet that little voice in the back of his head saying; what if. 'She'll do fine.' Kyuubi reassured him gently 'You know she will.'

Naruto gave the barest of nods, it was still hard for him to converse with Kyuubi without betraying that fact with his body language, 'I know, but..' he trailed off unable to find some realistic reason for Hinata to fail but still unable to shake his worry.

"Hey Naruto..." there was a pause whilst the speaker searched for the correct suffix "kun." A familiar voice broke through his conversation jolting his attention back to the real world, he reopened his eyes and glanced to his left sure enough seeing Ino standing next to him with a friendly smile on her face.

"Oh, hey Ino." Naruto replied happily, slightly unnerved by her sudden friendliness even if he didn't show it.

Ino grinned at Naruto's friendly greeting, he hadn't told her off for calling him Naruto-kun, maybe she did have a good shot at him after all. She had been debating asking him out for a little while anyway, quite a lot of her friends had suddenly decided to try and woo the blonde boy which had caught her attention; if there was going to be a competition for his heart she was determined to win it. She didn't know exactly why the other's had so completely changed their views on Naruto and had been determined to find out, doubly so when her friend had refused to tell her their reasons, and after seeing his speech to, and treatment of, Hinata today Ino was certain she had seen the reason her friends had fallen for Naruto, and was determined to get Naruto for herself. After all she was definitely much prettier than the shy Hyuuga heir and she deserved to have such a caring boyfriend. "You can call me Ino-chan, if you want."

Naruto's grin increased a little "Alright, Ino-chan" he replied,. Inside his head Kyuubi was smirking, Ino had just, unintentionally, played right into her plan by giving Naruto an easy choice for his second, human, mate. Now all she needed to do was work out a way of leaving the seal and everything would be ready to fall into place.

Ino beamed "Hey Naruto are you doing anything tonight?" she asked coyly leaning forward, just a little, to give Naruto a better view of her chest.

Naruto smiled softly and nodded, his understanding of women had improved in leaps and bounds since he starting seeing Kyuubi and Hinata but Naruto was still largely oblivious to any other girl's attempts to come onto him, mainly because he still didn't really think any girl would ever be seriously attracted to him, "Yeah." he replied "I'm gonna be celebrating with Hinata-chan." he glanced at the classroom door, she should be out any time with or without... no definitely with her headband. 'And then I'll come in and celebrate with you Kyuubi-chan.' he added wishing, for the umpteenth time that Kyuubi wasn't stuck in his head and that he was strong enough to do as he promised and find a way to release her from her undeserved prison.

Kyuubi smiled softly 'Mmm, I look forward to our.. _celebration_.' she purred seductively

Ino's grinned faded for an instant before returning to full force, she noted the slight flush in Naruto's cheek and paused, were he and Hinata...? No, no, Hinata was too shy for that, although she did wonder just how far the pair had gone and how long they had been together. The rumour had them pegged as being a item at least two months but she wasn't certain. "Oh right, well how about tomorrow?"

Naruto nodded "Yeah, I'm not doing much tomorrow, why?"

Ino smiled broadly, she would win Naruto yet, "Well I was sort of wondering if you wanted to get some lunch or something with me?" she asked a faint blush on her cheeks, she wasn't really used to asking boys on dates she was usually to one who was asked.

Naruto's answer was delayed as the classroom door opened and Hinata stepped out, he spun around to face her seeing the soft smile on her face and the headband clutched in her hand, his face split into a broad grin as he dashed over sweeping Hinata off her feet, the shy girl giving a quiet shriek of surprise, and spinning her round laughing "I knew you would pass Hinata-chan!" he set the, now madly blushing, girl back down on her feet gently prying the headband from her hand and tying it onto her head "I told you you would do well." he said softly, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close, his voice low and sincere "You should believe in yourself more." he kissed the steel of her forehead protector.

Hinata could feel the heat of the blush in her cheeks as she met Naruto's eyes , those gorgeous blue orbs that sparkled with life and love, "T..t..thank you." she mumbled softly burying her head in his shoulder oblivious to the gaggle of people watching them with interest, jealousy or some combination of the two

Naruto gave a small chuckle and bent a little lower planting another kiss on Hinata, on her cheek this time, "You really don't need to keep thanking me." he murmured

Ino frowned softly as she watched the young couple interact, damn it she wanted a boy to treat her like that! A small scheming grin slipped onto her face, and she would get what she wanted, she always did. "Naruto-kun?" she spoke up

Naruto tore his gaze from Hinata to see what Ino wanted "Yes?" Hinata glared as best she was able at Ino when she heard her call Naruto Naruto-kun, although admittedly her glare wasn't particularly intimidating even enhanced by the slightly off putting, in Ino's opinion, sight of her Byakugan.

Ino had to admit she felt a little guilty about breaking up such a good couple, they were practically made for each other and Hinata had been chasing him for such a long time it was kind of nice to finally see her get what she deserved from Naruto, still she didn't rise to the top of the class's social ladder by letting things like that stop her "You never answered me, would you like to go to lunch tomorrow?"

Hinata's face darkened slightly and worry lit her eyes, this was it, she knew Naruto was too good for her and now... and now.. he was going to leave her, tears sprung into her eyes and she lowered her head not wanting Naruto, or Ino, to see just how hard his impending break up was hitting her. Naruto's face flashed with confusion for a moment, in his excitement for Hinata he had completely forgotten about Ino's offer. He gave a slightly nervous chuckle removing on hand from Hinata to rub the back of his head absently "Oh right hehe." he chuckled turning to Hinata "Hey, Hinata-chan Ino-chan wants to get some lunch with me tomorrow, you want to come?"


	38. Chapter 38

Hinata's head snapped up a small watery smile on her face a few tears of relief leaking from her eyes, how could she have doubted her Naruto-kun, was her faith in him so small that something like this was too much?. Sniffing quietly and trying to recompose herself Hinata replied "I'd l..l..lo..love t..t..to." and sent the best glare she could muster at Ino, Naruto might not have quite cottoned on but both Hinata and Kyuubi had understood exactly what Ino had been trying to do. Inside Naruto's head Kyuubi grinned, the 'date' would occur after Naruto, and consequently Hinata, had found out about the CRA from Sarutobi, it was almost too perfect, her plan was working flawlessly.

Ino of course met Hinata's glare with one of her own, maybe this wouldn't be quite as easy as she had first thought but luckily from Hinata's worry it seemed that perhaps the two of them weren't as close as she had first thought. All she should need is one date with Naruto-kun, alone, and she had no doubt he would make the right choice and pick her. Naruto missed this small eye war between the two girls as he focused on Hinata's eyes, or more specifically the tears in her eyes "Hinata!" he exclaimed worriedly grabbing the Hyuuga heiress's shoulders "You're crying? What's wrong?" had he done something to make her cry?

Hinata shook her head softly even as her cheeks reddened at his touch her hand rising and wiping away the traitorous tears "N..no, I'm f..fi..f.. fine." she confirmed

Naruto gave her a long hard look his azure eyes boring into her pale lavender ones as though he would be able to see her thoughts if he looked hard enough "Are you sure?" he asked

Hinata couldn't muster any words to answer as she became lost in Naruto's eyes so merely nodded in reply. Naruto held her gaze for another few seconds, as if expecting her to admit what the problem had been. When no such response was forthcoming he merely nodded and turned his eyes back to Ino, who had been watching their interaction with a mix of jealousy and happiness, "So any ideas where we should go?" he asked

Ino shook her head softly "No, nothing springs to mind." she lied smoothly, she would let Naruto decide where to eat this time, then she could insist on a more romantic spot next time, without the Hyuuga interfering, she sent a glare at Hinata for good measure, on the ground he had picked this one. "Do you have any places you want to go?"

Naruto grinned broadly and Hinata shook her head softly "I.. iichiraku's?" she pre-empted Naruto's suggestion

Naruto beamed and bent down giving Hinata and kiss on the cheek "Of course!" he enthused "You can never go wrong with Ichiraku's!"

Ino raised an eyebrow and giggled softly "Are they paying you to advertise or something?"she asked mildly perturbed by Naruto's almost religious enthusiasm for a restaurant she hadn't even heard of. Of course this was Naruto and he was more energetic than most about almost everything, school work seemingly the only thing capable of sapping his boundless energy, but even for Naruto he was enthusiastic about this Ichiraku's place.

Naruto's brow creased in confusion "No, why?" he asked, Hinata hid a small giggle behind a hand at Ino's question

"You just seem to really like them." Ino offered weakly with a little shrug "I guess they do some good ramen then?"

Naruto nodded "Yeah, Ichiraku's does the best ramen!" he declared eagerly

Ino glanced in Hinata's direction silently asking the girl if Ichiraku's did, indeed, do decent ramen and Hinata offered a small nod of confirmation. The ramen there was amongst the best she had tasted, although admittedly she hadn't had much of the low class dish before she had gotten together with Naruto. "Alright then." Ino agreed with a nod "We'll meet a Ichiraku's tomorrow... One-ish?"

"One sounds good" Naruto agreed glancing at Hinata "You ok for one?"

Hinata considered her schedule for a moment, if had been a date with just Naruto-kun she would've been able to throw out any appointments she had but as it was Ino too she was less flexible, "Ummm o..o..one is ." she agreed

"Uzumaki, Naruto." Iruka's voice declared "Your turn."

Naruto nodded 'Wish me luck Kyuubi-chan.' he asked

Kyuubi giggled Naruto got the distinct impression she was smirking 'I thought you were so awsome that you didn't need luck?' she teased

Naruto resisted the urge to pout 'Meanie.' he huffed 'At lest Hinata-chan will do it properly.' he stuck his mental tongue out at Kyuubi and grinned at Hinata "Wish me luck Hinata-chan?" he asked holding her hands gently

Hinata gave a slight nod feeling her blush flaring into life when she met Naruto's intense gaze "G..g..good lu.. luck Naruto-kun." she muttered sincerely giving Naruto's hand a gentle, and hopefully reassuring, squeeze

"What no kiss?" this time Naruto did pout softly

'Oh is that all you wanted.' Kyuubi piped up 'You should've said!' Naruto heard a loud wet smooching noise in his head and blushed faintly as Kyuubi's gentle giggles reverberated through his skull .

Hinata. Meanwhile, flushed a deeper red as she glanced at the crowd, she was now intensely aware of, watching them. She couldn't kiss Naruto-kun in front of so many people... then again they had already seen them kiss a few times today, that particular thought brought her blush to yet higher levels as she swayed slightly on the spot the old spectre of fainting looming it's ugly face. She clenched her fists slightly, unintentionally squeezing Naruto's hand a little tighter, and fought back that urge leaning in she gave Naruto a soft kiss "G..g..ggg..good luck." she mumbled quietly.

Naruto smiled broadly at Hinata as she pulled back from the kiss and leant forward for another when he was cut off by a timely cough by Iruka "You coming, Naruto?" the teacher asked with a mix of annoyance and amusement.

Hinata eeped quietly her blush striving to turn redder still, with moderate success, when she realised Iruka had been watching her kiss Naruto. Naruto however merely gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his head "Hehe, I almost forgot about that." he muttered shooting Hinata one last smile "Be right back." he promised. Ino had one final quick staring match with Hinata before turning and heading off with her friends, or at least those that had already received, or not received their headbands, she had gotten her date and she was pleased with that,even if there was going to be an annoying tag along to the date.

'Naruto.' Kyuubi spoke up as Naruto made his way into the classroom

'Hmmm, yes?' Naruto replied curious

'Good luck.' Kyuubi offered tenderly

Naruto smiled happily 'Thanks.' he replied as he stood before Iruka and Mizuki

Iruka shuffled his papers as he sat back down and glanced at the mark sheets his face falling slightly as he scanned the marks his favourite pupil had received, Mizuki however was working to prevent a smirk from spreading across his features. Naruto saw Iruka's face, his own grin fading noticeably as doubts plagued his mind. Iruka let out a soft sigh and shook his head "I'm sorry Naruto." he said sadly "I really am, but I can't pass you." Iruka's words sent Naruto into shock, he hadn't passed? Even with Kyuubi-chan's help.. he had failed her and Iruka-sensei and even Hinata-chan, she was counting on him to be in her team and to be there for her and now... and now he couldn't, because he was too damn stupid to even pass one fucking test!

Mizuki pushed the manic grin attempting to form on his face to a side and adopted a, badly, faked façade of pity "Surely we can pass the boy Iruka, I mean he only failed the written test, he passed everything else with flying colours." Naruto latched on to that tiny thread of hope and looked pleadingly at Iruka, too stunned to even notice Mizuki's poorly, for a ninja at least, concealed glee at his plight.

Iruka shook his head sadly giving another, heavier, sigh "I wish I could." he admitted "But we can't bend the rules for one person no matter what we feel. The best we can do is offer it up to the council for reconsideration, and we both know how that'll go." he made a face to show what he thought of the village council before turning a sympathetic gaze to the shell-shocked boy in front of him "I'm sorry Naruto." he offered lamely

So shocked was Naruto that it took him a moment to put his mask in place, shaking himself off he plastered a small grin onto his face and shrugged "Oh well, there's always next year." he offered before smirking "And you get to teach me for another whole year Iruka-sensei!" Inside his head Kyuubi was panicking she had felt his crushing shame and sadness when he had been informed that he had not made genin but now she felt slight happiness through the seal as thought what she knew to be a mask was real. It felt perfect and if she didn't know that Naruto definitely wasn't feeling that emotion she would've believed what their link was telling her, he must;ve learnt to fool their emotional link somehow, and that brought a whole host of terrifying new possibilities into her mind. What if she was doing more harm than good to her Naruto-kun, she had thought that his life had been improving since she had only felt minor, perfectly normal, negative emotions over the link since the little seal incident that had created it. But now she knew he was capable of fooling the link she couldn't be certain that he was indeed happy with his life, had he been unhappy all this time and merely projecting an aura of happiness through the link to fool her and make her happy? She growled in annoyance even as the tears welled in her eyes, all she wanted was for the man she loved to be happy, why did everything seem to strive to prevent him from being so? And why did Naruto just take it as though he deserved it, didn't he know it's ok to be just a little selfish sometimes!

Iruka gave a small smile glad to see Naruto had taken failure so well even as he groaned playfully and let his head fall against the desk "Mizuki, do me a favour and just put a kunai through my skull now." he grunted. As she watched the ease with which Naruto slid his mask on Kyuubi's breath caught in her throat as another terrible possibility slammed home before he had known about her Naruto had had some unguarded moments which he would let his real emotions show but with her their was she forcing him to keep his mask in place 24/7, was her very presence going to destroy the real Naruto and leave only the hollow happiness of his mask in it's place?

Naruto pouted "I'm not that bad." he grumbled as he made his way out of the classroom empty handed, neither Chûnin aware of how badly they had shattered the young boy's world. In the privacy of her room in Naruto's mind Kyuubi cried for the injustice of the world, and it's apparent grudge against one totally innocent man, her frustration and sadness drawing her into a light fitful sleep.

Naruto stepped out of the classroom and froze when he saw Hinata, his mask weakening for but a moment as thoughts of how he had let her down whirled through his mind, however he quickly shook his head and firmly fixed a smile on his face as he walked over "Miss me?" he grinned

Hinata turned and smiled warmly at Naruto, however her grin quickly faded once she got a good look at his face. She could clearly see something was wrong with his smile however she still couldn't quite put her finger on exactly what it was that was wrong about it but his eyes... his eyes were hollow mockeries of what they had been earlier, the determination and happiness she was used to dancing in his blue orbs gone replaced with some pathetic veil of happiness trying to disguise untold sadness and desperation, it sent a small shiver down her spine She frantically began to search for a reason for this sudden change in her boyfriend, boyfriend that thought still brought a blush to her cheeks, but she could think of only one reason, no... no.. it couldn't possibly be that, could it? Please god, tell me I'm wrong. She found her voice and finally spoke up hesitantly "Ummm N..n..Naruto-kun?" Naruto didn't speak but gave a small nod and a faint grunt to show he was listening "Where's your h.. hea.. headband?" Hinata asked gingerly praying with all her might that he was just hiding it somewhere, she almost wanted to activate her Byakugan to find out where he was hiding it.

Naruto gave a small mirthless chuckle "I don't have one." he stated plainly "I failed."

Hinata gasped her hands shooting up to cover her mouth "Oh, Naruto-kun." he whispered worriedly, she knew how much that headband meant to her boyfriend.

Naruto waved her worry off "Don't worry about it." he gave her an over enthusiastic thumbs up "I'll just take it again next year!" he smiled in a way that might have been reassuring if everything he said hadn't been giving off that weird wrong vibe to Hinata and if his eyes had reignited back to their usual state. "Anyway comon, let's go to my place." he grinned "We gotta celebrate you becoming a ninja after all!" His voice returned to normal and his eyes returned, although they seemed more tempered than usual, Naruto was honestly ecstatic for Hinata's success and he would be damned before he let the graduation meal he had made for the both of them go to waste merely because he had failed.

Hinata reddened and nodded slowly over the moon to see Naruto returning to his usual self "O..ok." she agreed, she would have to be careful not to do anything that might cause that dead eyed Naruto to return, she shivered slightly at the memory of those haunting eyes.

Naruto smiled and took Hinata's hand leading her out of the school taking a little bit of hope from the fact she hadn't left the moment he had told her he hadn't become a shinobi like she had. Hinata trailed behind Naruto blushing a very gentle red from the contact as she tried to think of ways to cheer him up after what must've been a very painful event, even if her refused to show that pain.

"Hey Naruto-san!" Mizuki called as he spotted his quarry leaving the school, he had been waiting a few minutes, excusing himself from the classroom using the guise of his hangover, in order to catch the blonde.

Naruto slowed to a stop "Mizuki-sensei?" he said "What is it?"

Mizuki gave a small smile "I need to talk to you privately, do you mind?" he directed his question at Hinata.

Hinata hesitated and looked at Naruto who smiled "Meet at my place?"

Hinata looked unsure, not wanting to leave Naruto alone so soon after his failing, but a, this time real, smile from Naruto convinced her otherwise "Just go on ahead I'll just be a moment." he reassured her, fishing his keys from his pocket and tossing them to her.

Hinata nodded and gave Naruto's hand a quick squeeze, wordlessly giving Naruto her support, before continuing her walk out of the school, Naruto watching her retreating figure, his eyes drifting to her hips and ass for a moment before he tore them away with a blush, cursing Icha-Icha and Kyuubi-chan, their pervyness was rubbing off on him, and faced Mizuki again "What is it sensei?"

Mizuki gave Naruto a small grin "I'm sure you'll be happy to hear this, but I just remembered an old test for those who failed the academy exam."

Naruto perked up instantly "What is it?" he all but demanded

Mizuki gave a, none to friendly, chuckle, this was working perfectly the little demon was falling right into his trap. "Well, it's an old test and a bit of a long shot." he explained "But for tonight only the Hokage will have a forbidden scroll" he air quoted forbidden scroll as he spoke it "hidden in his office, this scroll will be full of jutsu, your goal in this test is to get that scroll and learn one of the techniques contained within then bring it to the old foresters hut just outside Konoha, you know the one?"

Naruto thought about it for a second before nodding "Yeah." he chirped

Mizuki grinned predatorily "Gooood, now you mustn't get caught trying to take the scroll and you must have it at the hut by midnight and have a technique ready to demonstrate to me, you got that." Naruto nodded enthusiastically making Mizuki's grin grow slightly "Alright then I'll see you at midnight." he paused for a moment "Oh, and one last thing. This test is top secret so don't tell anyone about it, got it, not a word or you fail automatically."

Naruto nodded a huge smile on his face, he had another chance! "Got it! Thanks Mizuki-sensei, you're the best!"

Mizuki gave a chuckle "I know." he preened "Now off you go, you have some planning to do." he shooed the excited young boy away, now he just needed to wait and let the little brat do the dirty work for him.

Naruto nodded and raced off homewards his mind working a mile a minute, he already knew the Hokage tower like the back of his hand and knew from experience he could navigate a fair portion of it blindfolded. And Mizuki-sensei had told him this scroll would be in the old man's office casting his mind back to the many many times he had visited Sarutobi over his life, and ignoring the stinging pain of betraying thoughts of that man still carried, he remembered once or twice the old man had showed him a large scroll that was kept in a hidden safe behind the large picture of Konoha on the east wall of his office, what had he called it?... Ah! The forbidden scroll! Perfect! Naruto grinned but that grin quickly morphed into a. frown once he put them in context of the test he now had knowledge of, something wasn't right here. Had the old man been purposely showing him where the forbidden scroll was hidden so that he could pass this test, did he have so little confidence in Naruto's abilities that he felt it necessary to help him pass the make up exam in such a way? In the past Naruto would have definitely said no, but with the knowledge that Sarutobi knew who his mother was, at the very least, and had refused to tell him such he could no longer be sure of the old man's integrity. Of course there was also the option that Mizuki had lied to him about the test... No! No. This was his one and only chance to make everything right again he wouldn't waste it on some stupid niggling doubt. He would take this test and he would pass damn it! These thoughts had carried him all the way to his house and he had been standing outside his door for almost a full minute too lost in thought to go inside. Shaking his head to clear out all the useless debate he put his plans for tonight to one side, for now he would focus on Hinata's victory.

* * *

Yo everyone, just wanted to let you know I've started a side project of a jutsu library so if you have any made up jutsu you would like me to have please feel free to send them, if I end up using them then I'll be sure to credit you ;D. Also if you want to see what I have let me know. It's not much yet, around 35-40ish jutsu, but it's a start. Below I'm sticking a little exerpt about how chakra works and the combination elements I will be using in this story:

**Fusion Elements:**

Water + Earth: Wood Release (Mokuton)

Water + Wind: Ice Release (Hyoton)

Earth + Fire: Lava Release (Yoton)

Earth + Air: Crystal Release (Shoton)

Fire + Air: Lightning Release (Raiton)

Fire + Water: Blood Release (Chiton)

The fusion elements require the user to have powerful chakra and strong natural affinities for both the requisite base elements, as chakra natures are determined by a person's lineage, or to be more precise their demonic ancestors, it is often thought that fusion elements are carried by a bloodline but this is not the case. However often-times when a person capable of using a fusion element appears their chakra is so entwined that they find it difficult to separate their chakra into its base elements meaning that, for example, a wood user would not necessarily be any good at earth and water manipulation. Because of the abundance of lightning users it is generally considered to be a base element however it is not and the large number of users is explained by the presence of a large family of lightning demons that ruled what it now the land of lightning.


	39. Chapter 39

Hey everyone, I just wanted to put a quick note in here since I had so many people misunderstand my explanation of combined chakra I put at the end of my last chapter. I am aware that lightning is a base element in cannon and I am also waware that there are some cannon elements I have missed out but what I wrote is how chakra will work in this story, in most cases jutsu in the unused combo-elements will still be used just merely have their element changed, like a large number of steam jutsu will become merely water jutsu and sand justu will fall under crystal, for what is sand if not little crystals. I would also like to thank anyone who gave me a jutsu for my library for their generosity, rest assured if I use it you'll be credited somewhere in that chapter ^^.

* * *

Naruto made his way home a little slower than usual, his mind drifting back to the task Mizuki had given him. Both trying to plan how he would pull it off and just why that little doubt in the back of his mind wasn't vanishing, he'd tried to talk to Kyuubi about it but light snoring had informed him she was asleep and, although he found it odd the she was asleep now of all times, he was loathe to wake her up for something so minor. Finally he landed on the landing of his department and stepped inside "Hinata-chan! I'm home!" he called out shoving aside his pensive mood and the lingering shame and sorrow of failure and letting his proximity to the girl he loved buoy his mood.

Hinata stifled a small giggle at Naruto's loud proclamation and smiled at him glad to see Naruto looking truly happy once again, "Uumm. W..what did M..Mizuki-sensei wa..w.. want?" she questioned curiously.

Naruto hesitated at her question, it wasn't that he couldn't think up a convincing lie, he prided himself in always having a plausible lie for any occasion, but rather that he was unsure whether or not he should lie to Hinata about his make up test. He really wanted to just tell her the truth but Mizuki had explicitly told him to keep it secret, and this was his last chance, if Mizuki-sensei found out he had told Hinata-chan and failed him... he didn't even want to think about that.

"N..naruto-kun?" Hinata pressed wondering why he was taking so long to answer, his hesitance only feeding her curiosity as possibilities, both good and bad, whirled through her mind.

"Huh? Oh!" Naruto gave a little nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his head, he'd been so wrapped up in his decision making that he'd almost forgotten that Hinata had been waiting for an answer. He shook his head, how could he have even been debating what to do, the choice was obvious, "Sorry." he apologized with another slightly nervous laugh "I got a little caught up in my thoughts." Hinata merely nodded and gave Naruto an understanding smile as the two lapsed into silence for a moment before Naruto moved forward and pulled Hinata into a tight hug his eyes and senses scanning the surroundings for anyone listening into their conversation.

Hinata felt her face heat up and a tiny surprised squeak escaped her lips at the sudden, unexpected, but definitely welcome, contact with Naruto however the joy quickly fled as she searched for a reason for the hug, was Naruto-kun about to tell her some bad news? Was he going to... No! She promised she would have more faith in her Naruto-kun! She shook her head slightly burying it in Naruto's shoulder as she fought the worry that was steadily building with each torturous second of silence.

Naruto took a few seconds to just enjoy Hinata's proximity before performing another quick sweep of the area with his senses and, satisfied there was no-one listening in, leant forward slightly so he could whisper in Hinata's ear "Mizuki-sensei wanted to tell me about a make up test I could do." he informed her as quietly as he could whilst still being sure she had heard him.

Hinata's face lit up "That's great!" she announced happily before a soft frown spread onto her features "Ummm w..w... why are you w..whispering?" she inquired confused

Naruto gave a small grin "Well, honestly, Mizuki-sensei told me to keep it a secret. I didn't really want anyone to hear me say it otherwise I could fail." he chuckled softly and rubbed the back of his head the same way he always did to cover his nervousness.

Hinata looked horrified at Naruto's blasé ignoring of the rules "Then why d. d.. did you tell me?" she hissed.

"Because you asked." Naruto replied honestly

"B..b..b..bu...!" Hinata spluttered Naruto's direct and simple response completely derailing any prepared response she had had "W..why?" why was he willing to risk his last chance at being a ninja just because she was being nosey!

"Because you don't lie to people you care about." Naruto replied his face stony, Hinata swore she saw a look of sadness and betrayal flash through his eyes for a moment, "If you love someone they deserve the truth, no matter what." he continued, if there was one thing Naruto hated above all others it was lying, he could understand small lies about presents or surprises and such but withholding something important, like his mother's name the bitter thought flashed through his mind, was unacceptable. He was painfully aware that he was really pushing the borders of his own rule by withholding information about Kyuubi from Hinata, but she hadn't asked so it was ok, right? It wasn't like he had lied to her, she just hadn't asked. He wasn't like the old man and everyone else, if Hinata-chan asked he would tell her the truth.

That answer coupled with the obvious emotion behind it took the little remaining wind from Hinata's sails, she just couldn't remain annoyed at Naruto after a reason like that, part of her wanted to press for details of this test of his since she knew he would give them if she asked but she viscously stomped that impulse down, "Oh." he managed to mutter lamely.

Naruto laughed softly and leant forward his lips seeking Hinata's for a soft chaste kiss, one that Hinata eagerly met even as she felt her cheeks flush hotter, their lips separated slowly, regretfully, and Naruto gave Hinata that small sincere smile of true happiness he reserved for those he loved "Anyway, I believe we were going to celebrate your becoming a ninja, weren't we?" he asked, purposefully making his voice slightly husky, a hand playing idly with her headband as he spoke.

A shiver ran through Hinata's body as she heard his voice and she unconsciously squeezed him closer "Y..y...yes." she finally managed to stutter out her face almost as red as it had been when they had first started going out, did Naruto know what he was doing to her! She lifted her head and looked into his soulful blue eyes searching for an answer.

Naruto shuddered slightly as he felt Hinata squeezing her soft body against his, did she know what she did to him! He shook his head softly willing his hormones to retreat, for now, no matter what his body said he just wasn't ready for anything like that and he was certain Hinata wasn't either, but damn if she and Kyuubi weren't making this hard for him "So, how do you want to celebrate?" he asked softly, this time his voice was husky of it's own accord making his question sound more like something he would expect from one of those damned Icha Icha books.

Another powerful shiver ran through Hinata, she was certain if her face heated up any more it would combust, he didn't mean it like _that_? Did he? If anything her blush got stronger "Umm J..j..j..just hugging li..like this is good." she managed to get out unable to look Naruto in the face in case her response had somehow disappointed him.

Naruto gave a small, inaudible, sigh of relief when Hinata too wanted to keep this celebration chaste, although he didn't feel ready for physical intimacy yet, he knew that if either Hinata-chan or Kyuubi-chan really pressed the issue he wouldn't be able to refuse them. He gave Hinata a soft loving squeeze and planted a gentle chaste kiss on her lips "It is, isn't it." he agreed wholeheartedly, indeed nothing was better than just being close to any of the girls he loved, all his worries about tonight's test were completely put out of his mind.

Hinata didn't reply in words but simply made a small agreeable sigh as she burrowed her head into his shoulder and inhaled his scent, and for those precious few minutes all was right in their worlds.

* * *

Naruto broke away from Hinata, both of them giving small but regretful sighs at the loss of contact, Naruto shot Hinata a large grin as he made his way to the kitchen area of his small apartment "I had kinda planned on you staying longer tonight." he said apologetically as he rifled through the fridge "so I brought some things so we could have a nice meal together, you know to celebrate becoming ninja." he paused for a fraction of a second before amending himself "You becoming a ninja."

"Naruto-kun." Hinata muttered softly seeing the sadness that had flashed through his eyes as he amended his sentence, she knew that failing the test had hurt him, badly, even if he wasn't showing it.

"But since I have the make up test tonight we're kinda going to have to cut it short." he glanced outside and gave an apologetic smile "I can whip something up now, if you want, but it's a bit early for dinner and I doubt you'll really be hungry."

Hinata nodded, Naruto's assessment was correct and she wasn't really that hungry yet, she thought about it for a while "Maybe w..w..we can ha.. h..have ttt..that meal tomorrow, aaa..after you become a ninja." she offered

Naruto closed the fridge and spun on his heels a large grin on his face "That's a great idea Hinata-chan!" he declared happily sweeping the petite girl into his arms, chuckling slightly at her surprised eep as he did so, and planting a few rapid fire kisses on her cheek and lips "We'll celebrate tomorrow!" he confirmed enthusiastically planting a deep kiss on her lips and holding it for as long as their lungs would allow.

* * *

Naruto waved goodbye to Hinata from his door and watched her retreating figure until she was out of sight before heading back inside with a heavy sigh, his fun time was over and now he really needed to start planning what he was going to do. Closing his front door he let out another sigh and flopped onto the sofa, just as Kyuubi-chan taught him he would take a quick inventory of his skills and equipment and see what plans he could form with that.

Hinata was slowly walking through the streets heading for her clan compound her body walking the route on autopilot whilst her mind worried about Naruto and this mysterious make up exam of his. Would he pass? What if he fai.. No! Naruto-kun would pass this, definitely! But, but what if? If somehow he failed, surely it would be better if she was there to do what little she could to comfort him. She knew she couldn't help him take the exam both because it was against the rules and she would just be getting in his way, but still she wanted to watch. She slowed to a stop and glanced back the way she came thoughtfully, was it worth it? She wasn't even sure when exactly he was planning to undertake this mission of his or what it entailed but with eyes like hers it would be unlikely that she would find herself unable to watch the mission, just so she could know how it all turned out. Her mind made up she turned and began to walk back towards Naruto's house toying with the idea of activating her Byakugan now but discarding it quickly, after all it was rare for a Hyuuga to activate their bloodline outside of sparring or missions and certainly a Hyuuga walking down the high-street with their bloodline active was almost unheard of.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes and nodded to himself, he had the safe code memorised from his memories of seeing the scroll before, standing up and stretching out his muscles, mind diving like that always seemed to leave them just a little stiff, he took off his usual clothes and procured a plain black trouser and t-shirt set from the back of his wardrobe. Redressed in his mission attire he grabbed his kunai pouch and his other ninja tools and quickly strapped them in place, it was meant to be an infiltration mission but that didn't mean he wasn't going to bring means of fighting if he was spotted. Full geared up he took a deep calming breath schooling his emotions and slipping his game face on, it was now or never, and failure was not an option tonight!

He opened his door and stepped out into the, now rapidly cooling, evening air quickly ascending to the rooftops and making his way quickly, silently and stealthily towards the Hokage Tower using his familiarity of the route to his fullest advantage.

Hinata was having trouble keeping Naruto in sight as she hurried after him, he was so much faster than she had thought he would be, and he was almost unbelievably good at stealth, if it weren't for her bloodline she would have lost sight of him a long time ago and even with it active she occasionally lost sight of him for a few moments as his flitted from shadow to shadow. Even his chakra seemed to have vanished! Normally he was like a bright flare to her activated bloodline but now she could barely see any chakra from him at all, wasn't concealing your chakra a Chûnin technique? Why was Naruto-kun sneaking anyway? The thought passed through her mind, he hadn't met a teacher yet so the mission couldn't have started? She thought for a moment before shaking her head, obviously he'd met the teacher, or maybe proctor, she wasn't sure, in those few minutes between her leaving his house and her discussion to double back and watch. It was kind of obvious really and she felt a little foolish for not reaching that conclusion quicker.

Naruto frowned slightly as he found it impossible to keep his senses enhanced and suppress his chakra totally at the same time. He had settled for using only the very minimum amount of chakra needed to put his senses at what he thought of as a reasonable level but he knew that meant he would be giving off some chakra, he just hoped the signature would be small enough for any of the ninja guarding the scroll to disregard. He quickly reached the Hokage tower and slowed to a stop on the roof of the closest house observing the patrol patterns of the supposed ANBU on duty, obviously they would only by Chûnin or something tonight since pitting a not even genin against ANBU was just unfair.

He gave a small sigh of relief when he discovered that their patrol patterns hadn't been changed from what the normal guards used, it would have been quite a blow if his extensive knowledge of the patrol routes had been rendered useless. As it was he would wait ten minutes then quickly rush up the side of the building when the replacement guard appeared, he knew the replacement would appear using shunsin and he would use that chakra surge to disguise his own as he ran up the wall. He would have to be quick but it was his best bet to get inside undetected. Leaning back and allowing himself to rest he let his chakra drain from his senses cloaking his chakra entirely and leaving him all but invisible. He turned his mind's eye inwards searching to see if Kyuubi-chan was awake but she wasn't so with a gentle sigh he settled in to wait for the guard change.


	40. Chapter 40

The ten minutes passed far too quickly for the young blonde not-quite-a-shinobi-yet and yet for the pale eyed genin watching him those same ten minutes stretched out torturingly slowly. Naruto was running through his plan over and over in his mind trying to iron out any flaws that he hadn't already fixed, he might have been impulsive when provoked but Naruto always liked to have a plan, or five, up his sleeve and contact with Kyuubi had only strengthened that impulse. Hinata however was watching his still form with silent awe at his ability to completely hide his chakra, her mind slowly trying to figure out why he had stopped. Was he waiting for someone, or something? If so what? Maybe he was tired.. no, she hadn't seen Naruto tired. Ever.

Naruto felt the chakra surge as the new guard appeared "Now." he muttered quietly to himself abandoning stealth for pure speed as he pumped chakra into his legs and burst towards the tower in a blur of motion, he would only have but a few precious moments to cover the distance.

Hinata let out a badly concealed gasp as the target of her silent vigil suddenly went into action, moving with a speed she had no idea he possessed, she watched as he sprinted towards the Hokage tower another gasp escaped her as she saw her boyfriend running up the wall of the tower, she knew the technique well enough, it was part of her training to achieve the level of chakra control required of, in her father's words, a Hyuuga of such noble blood, but walking on any surface required her utmost concentration and Naruto appeared to be doing it almost effortlessly. She watched his rapid ascension up the building with silent awe, just how good was Naruto? And how did he fail the ninja test if he could do all these advanced techniques? However once he had slipped through the windows the many seals that enshrouded the important building shielded him from her gaze. She moved slightly closer to the building in question worriedly, what kind of mission exactly was Naruto doing? Surely this couldn't be a test to become a _genin_? No, something was really off with this _mission_ of his. She briefly toyed with the idea of asking one of the many ANBU she had no doubt were hiding in the shadows but if, in somehow, this really was a real test... then she would be revealing that Naruto had told her. And if he failed because of her... she didn't even have the strength to imagine what it would feel like. No. She would wait here and watch for when Naruto came back out.

Naruto quickly made his way to the picture he knew covered the safe his prize would be in, gently he lifted the large, heavy, portrait from it's usual spot and rested it against the wall before turning his attention to the, now exposed, safe door he observed it for a brief moment to reassure himself it matched the safe he had seen in his memories. Nodding to himself he reached out to input the code however as soon as his hand touched the metal of the safe he felt a strange pulse of chakra run through his being and he froze, what was that? Had he set off an alarm? Was the safe trapped somehow? He held his position for a few tense seconds and when no Chûnin or instructor jumped out to fail him he let out a small sigh of relief and put the odd chakra pulse out of his mind "Alright." he murmured quietly to himself "Let's see, 18 left, 42 right... umm." he paused for a second "Ah yes, 10 right, 21 left and 44 left." he talked himself through the code and gave a small pleased "Yes!" as the safe door swung open easily revealing the ageing scroll he had been tasked with finding. Pulling the scroll out reverently Naruto unravelled the first few inches of it to confirm it's contents, the first section was entitled simply; Konoha and the first technique underneath that was Forbidden Technique: Wind Release: Breath Stealer. Naruto nodded to himself, it was certainly a scroll of ninja techniques, his objective, now he needed to escape the tower and learn a technique contained within the scroll. Glancing at the clock on the wall he found he had roughly two hours to do that and frowned, he would need to leave the tower soon if he was to get enough time to learn even the simplest technique.

Back outside Hinata gave another quiet gasp when she saw Naruto re-emerge from Hokage Tower by jumping out of the window. Her heart leapt into her throat as she watched her love plummet towards the unforgiving ground and certain death. Naruto let himself fall two stories, the precious scroll tucked under one arm, before reaching out and gently letting his free hand brush against the wall he emitted a constant flow of chakra utilising the same trick he used for wall walking he stuck his hand lightly against the tower allowing the extra friction this stick provided to slow himself down to a safe speed. He landed and took off at a dead sprint moving as fast as he could whilst remaining quiet, feverantly hoping that the small amount of chakra he had used to slow his decent hadn't been enough to alert any of the guards.

* * *

Naruto let out a relieved sigh as he leant against a tree on the edge of the clearing, totally unaware of the chaos unfolding back in Konoha as the missing scroll was discovered, he was on the home stretch now! "Alright, I just need to learn one technique!" he declared unfurling the Forbidden Scroll and scanning it "What the?" he muttered, these were all S and A ranked techniques! There was no way he could learn any of these! Frantically he unfurled the rest of the scroll; it was split into many different sections, one for each major village before it began degenerating into minor places Naruto hadn't even heard of; seriously, The village hidden in the Stars? It seemed that only the Konoha section was totally full of A and S ranked jutsu whilst the others had simpler jutsu mixed in amongst the larger ones. Still, why would they even put such powerful jutsu on a scroll designed to test for genin? He pondered this for a moment before a light bulb went off in his mind, of course! This was a judgement call! Obviously if he wasted his time trying to master these jutsu he blatantly couldn't perform then how could he be trusted to make rational choices in the field. He nodded to himself and began scanning the scroll for jutsu he might be able to learn within the time limit.

* * *

Hinata panted softly as she drew closer to Naruto once again, she hadn't been able to keep up with his speed and it had taken her a long time to find him again even with her greatly enhanced sight. As he breathing slowly returned to normal she let her attention wander to the blonde boy currently leaning lazily against the walls of an old shack, the huge grin plastered on his face making her own mouth upturn into a gentle smile as her cheeks flushed, a large scroll next to him, also leaning against the old building. As she watched Naruto began forming his chakra into a small thread that waved above his hand almost like a snake for a few seconds before the boy retracted it and began reforming it. Hinata watched Naruto reform the shape four more times before a surge of chakra approaching them caught her attention. Turning her attention towards the village she could see ninja scouring the outskirts of town on the edge of her vision, this was definitely wrong! Something definitely wasn't right here! However her rapidly escalating panic was subdued when she recognised the approaching person, it was Mizuki-sensei, she let out a sigh of relief, this had all been a test! And judging on Naruto's smile he was set to pass. The small grin on her face grew into a broad smile to match the one Naruto was wearing, she would wait here and jump out to congratulate Naruto after Mizuki passed him.

Naruto grinned broadly as he played with the chakra string technique he had learned, it had been tucked away under the Suna section of the scroll along with a bunch of diagrams on building dolls of some kind, which he had promptly ignored in favour of focusing on the lowest ranked, and thus easiest to learn, technique on the scroll, he wasn't very adept with it yet but he could at least do it and that meant he was a ninja for sure!

"Ah Naruto!" Mizuki grinned as he leapt into the clearing landing a few feet from the boy his grin growing as he spotted the precious scroll propped up against the old hut "Good work, Naruto-kun. So tell me, did you manage to learn a technique?"

Naruto smirked and gave Mizuki a thumbs up "Of course I did!" he proclaimed

"R.. really?" Mizuki stammered in surprise although he quickly caught himself. Dammit he had planned for the little demon to wear himself out trying to use one of the larger jutsu so he could offer him to Orochimaru as an extra gift "Show me." he instructed, this could be a major problem if Naruto could actually use one of those S ranked jutsu he'd heard were stored in that scroll!

Naruto nodded and pulled out a kunai "It's called chakra string." he declared proudly as he morphed his chakra into a string and wrapped it around the kunai "Watch this!" he waved the kunai around in a short series of jerky unsure motions before the string dissipated dropping the weapon the the ground, almost removing Naruto's thumb in the process, "Heh, well I'm not perfect yet." Naruto chuckled rubbing the back of his head "But I learnt it!"

Mizuki chuckled softly, heh trust the idiot to take a scroll full of powerful techniques and learn probably the only useless one there, he gave a soft sigh, oh well it would have been almost too good to be true if it had worked out like he had hoped, now he just needed to remove the only witiss and he would be home free. "Not bad Naruto. Now give me the scroll and we can be on our way." his grin was almost predatory and his eyes filled with increasingly ill disguised blood-lust and greed but Naruto was too happy at having passed to be paying any attention to that.

Naruto nodded and picked up the scroll walking forward he began to hand it to Mizuki when his danger instinct flared and he threw himself backwards mere milliseconds before Mizuki's kunai would have pierced his neck "What?" Naruto spluttered from his prone position "Mizuki-sensei?"

Mizuki's grin was now menacing as he took a step forward raising his kunai to strike a killing blow to the downed boy "Thanks for the scroll, demon scum. Now die and rot in hell like you deserve!" he swung his arm down with all his might the blade descending towards Naruto's right eye, regeneration or not Naruto wouldn't be getting up from a hit like that.

"Noooo!" Hinata screeched as she dove from the undergrowth tackling Mizuki and bowling him a side

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto murmured as he pushed himself back to his feet only to see Mizuki send a viscous kick at Hinata's stomach sending her rolling across the clearing "Hinata-chan!" he called out running to the girl's side "Are you ok?" he asked worriedly

Hinata nodded weakly as she pushed herself into a sitting position clutching her chest with one arm "Yes. I t..think so." she grimaced, Mizuki's kick had bruised her ribs at the very least but she doubted there would be any lasting injury. Naruto nodded a glared at Mizuki, he had used him! He had hurt Hinata-chan! Dammit, he had let himself be fooled yet again! He had hurt Hinata-chan! He would make Mizuki pay for using him, but most of all for hurting Hinata-chan! Inside his head Kyuubi stirred from her restless sleep as Naruto's anger began to leak through their link.

Mizuki laughed as he turned on the couple, this was just too perfect! The demon's little whore had turned up! He could sell her to almost any village for a fortune, but of course he'd need to break her spirit first, otherwise her struggling would cause him problems. A cruel grin formed on his face "Hey, Hinata-chan." he called his voice heavy with mock sweetness "Do you want to know a secret about your little boyfriend." he spat the word boyfriend with venom.

Hinata nodded hesitantly "Y..y...yes." she answered shakily eyeing the ex-teacher warily ready for any surprise attacks.

"No." Naruto whispered softly shaking his head "Don't tell her."

Mizuki's grin grew "You see, the Fourth couldn't actually kill the Kyuubi..."

"No." Naruto repeated a little louder, but still barely at a whisper "Don't." tears welled in his eyes

"so he did the next best thing..." Mizuki continued thoroughly enjoying the anguished look on the little demon's face

"No." Naruto moaned louder still clutching at his head, this time Hinata took note and glanced at Naruto worry etched on her features.

"he sealed it!" Mizuki declared sweeping his arms dramatically before grinning at Hinata "Guess where the Kyuubi was sealed Hinata-chan, go on, I know you can work it out."

Hinata gasped her gaze darting between Naruto and Mizuki "No." she muttered horrified "It's not true!"

"Yes, yes it is!" Mizuki proclaimed entirely too happy with the misery he was inflicting on the two teenagers "Your precious _Naruto-kun_" he lifted the pitch of his voice in a mocking imitation of Hinata's own voice "is a demon! It's his fault all those people died that night, he killed them all!"

"No, that's can't be true." Hinata shook her head tears streaming down her face "Please.. no." she whispered

"No. No. No. No! No! Nooooooooooo!" Naruto screamed out shaking his head tears streaming down his face, he had seen her horrified glance, she hated him, she hated him and it was all his fault! Naruto's head snapped back and his eyes locked with Mizuki's, inside his head Kyuubi roared out her own anger fed by Naruto's which in turn fed back into Naruto creating a feedback loop of rage, it was Mizuki's fault he had put all those doubt in her mind, he had caused her Naruto-kun so much suffering! He would die for his crimes against those she loved! "You!" Naruto growled out his voice feral and dangerous "This is all your fault!"

Mizuki smirked entirely unconcerned by the meaningless anger of a not-even-genin "And?" he declared "I think I did a rather good job." he gloated

That was too much for Naruto and youki exploded out of him an, entirely inhuman, roar of pain and anger ripping itself from his throat "I'm going to kill you." Naruto growled his eyes bleeding to red. The whisker marks on his face bulged obscenely before bursting open in a shower of blood leaving Naruto with actual whiskers and six open wounds where his whisker marks used to be, at the same time claws ripped themselves from his fingers and toes in a shower of blood . These new wounds didn't close, the explosion of youki currently eating away at his body keeping his regeneration more than occupied but Naruto didn't care, pain was meaningless, all that mattered now was ensuring Mizuki died, painfully, for what he had done.

Hinata watched wide eyed as Naruto stalked forward a few paces, blood dripping steadily from his claws and face as it ran from the wounds his transformation had caused, "N..n..Naruto?" Hinata asked, no this couldn't be Naruto! Naruto wasn't a demon! He just couldn't be... not her kind caring Naruto.. it was just impossible! Maybe it was the fox? Had the fox taken over Naruto's body? Her heart leapt into her throat at the thought "Naruto-kun." she murmured softly "Please come back."

Hinata's soft pleading was drowned out, however, as Naruto let loose another inhuman roar of anger and threw himself at the Chûnin, who was, for the first time, beginning to doubt the idea of baiting a jinchuuriki like he had done.

Naruto lashed out with a quick swipe far faster than Mizuki had thought the boy capable of and this surprise enabled Naruto to get a solid hit in, his claws ripping a decent chuck out of Mizuki's left shoulder. Mizuki cried out in pain as his left arm went limp blood pouring from the gaping wound "Bastard." the injured Chûnin gasped glad that he had been able to dodge even the small amount he had, Naruto would have taken his head off it the blow had landed where it was intended to.

Naruto however showed no sign of relenting as he quickly skidded to a stop, digging his claws into the ground to slow faster, and turned rushing at Mizuki once again his face twisted into a bloodthirsty grin, this time he would end his prey's life!

Mizuki brought his hand away from his injured shoulder and pulled out a kunai "Come on demon." he growled his face set in a pained grimace as his eyes blazed with hatred "I'll butcher you like the animal you are!" Naruto snarled as he leapt at the Chûnin once again, Mizuki smirking as he put his kunai directly in Naruto's path "Got you now demon." he growled out.

Naruto didn't even flinch as Mizuki's kunai buried itself deep in his stomach, a mix of blood and stomach bile leaking out around the weapon, but instead grinned as he brought his arm back before slamming his hand into Mizuki's chest easily snapping the ribs that impeded his progress. With a surge of chakra ten ANBU appeared in the clearing along with Sarutobi himself just in time to see Naruto's gore stained hand burst from Mizuki's back clutching the shredded remains of the now very much deceased Chûnin's heart.


	41. Chapter 41

"Naruto!" Sarutobi gasped in surprise "What have you done?" he murmured quietly, sadly, to himself. As he took in the scene, Naruto was cloaked in a thin veil of Kyuubi's youki and standing in front of a horrified Hinata with a now dead Chûnin dangling from his arm like some grotesque piñata. Finally his eyes came to rest on the silhouette of the forbidden scroll leaning, as it was, against the old wooden logging hut, Sarutobi allowed himself a small sigh of relief that the two problems were related even as he tried to figure out what had happened.

Naruto's head snapped up at the sound of the Hokage's voice and he scanned the collected crowd of ninja a deep growl resonating in his throat, they had all hurt him! Sarutobi had betrayed his trust! He had played him for a fool, lied to him for all those years! Rat, Horse, Boar, Raccoon had all borne witness to his beatings and done nothing! And those other ANBU weren't blameless either, he was sure of it. Yes. They had all hurt him... and he would kill them, if they were all dead the pain would stop! He twitched his arm and, almost casually, flicked Mizuki's corpse away in a shower of fresh gore as he glared at the collected ANBU with murderous intent.

"Naruto, please, calm down..." Sarutobi began, his voice calm and measured

"I knew the demon was going to turn eventually!" Rat growled out "We should have just killed it when we had the chance." he flung a full brace of ten kunai with a speed only possessed by the elite of the elite and quickly began to make hand seals even as the kunai whistled towards Naruto.

"ANBU!" Sarutobi snapped angrily, gone was his calm diplomatic tone, now his voice was cold, without even a hint of mercy, the voice of a true killer. Without needed any further orders the remaining nine ANBU darted towards their comrade.

Naruto tensed and began ducking to the left, out of the path of the lethal knives, but suddenly stopped and snapped back into place all the weapons thudding into him with a wet, meaty, noise. Such was the force behind the blades the combined impact was enough to bowl Naruto over backwards where he landed in a crumpled heap. The oppressive youki coat dissipating before he even hit the ground, the whiskers he had sprouted shrivelling and dropping off leaving six thin lines of scar tissue in their wake and his claws blackened and died.

"Naruto!" Hinata screamed dashing to her boyfriend's side and cradling him sobbing softly, he fear overcome with worry, at least temporarily. Her arm brushed against he hand and snapped off three of the blackened claws, the dead tissue offering no resistance as it broke under the slightest pressure.

The ANBU reached Rat just as he reached the end of his string of hand seals "Lightning Release: Sky's Judgement!" Rat declared pointing his outstretched hand at Naruto's prone form, a mere millisecond before the jutsu went off Boar tackled him knocking Rat backwards his hand shooting upwards as his jutsu discharged with a deafening crack of thunder, a massive thunderbolt ripped into the night sky and for a scant few seconds it was as if the sun had risen eight hours too early.

Sarutobi let out a small sigh, he had thought he'd only picked ANBU who were, at least, indifferent to Naruto for this mission, "Boar, you know what to do." he ordered coldly

Boar nodded "Yes sir!" he returned smartly pulling out a kunai and slitting Rat's throat in a quick smooth motion before returning to his feet.

With the traitorous ANBU dealt with the remaining nine fell back into formation behind their Hokage "Boar! Secure the Forbidden Scroll." Sarutobi barked authoritatively "And send word to Ferret to recall all the ANBU currently searching for it."

"Sir yes sir!" Boar responded taking the large scroll and vanishing in the distinctive swirl of leaves of a shunsin.

As Boar carried out his orders Sarutobi made his way towards Naruto and Hinata and knelt down next to the fallen jinchuuriki "Why didn't he dodge?" he mused aloud as he inspected the fallen boy. None of Naruto's wounds appeared to be closing at all, and that worried Sarutobi greatly, surely the increase in youki should have sped up the healing process? And if so that spoke pages about the seriousness of the wounds his favourite blonde charge had sustained. As if to answer his mental question Naruto's body was wracked with a violent coughing fit, blood spurting from his mouth as his body tried to clear his lungs.

"H.. .h..he was ppp pr..p..protecting me!" Hinata sobbed clutching at Naruto, uncaring of the blood drenching her clothes.

"Mmmm" Sarutobi hummed "And why do you say that?" it was possible, he supposed, and if she could back it up that was definitely good news as it meant Naruto hadn't totally lost to the fox and there might just be hope that he could get through this without having to hurt Naruto further.

"J..j...just before he he h he m..m..moved back..." Hinata dissolved into a fresh bout of sobs as she clutched Naruto closer, snapping off another two claws in the process.

Sarutobi listened and waited for Hinata to regain her composure patiently even as his mind whirled . One the one hand Naruto needed treatment, now, especially if his suspicions were correct and Naruto's wounds were worse than they appeared. But on the other hand he needed to hear Hinata's explanation to tell if Naruto was even safe to be put into the hospital, what if he woke up and went on a rampage, he'd proved himself perfectly capable of killing a Chûnin after all, and pressuring the young heiress might well cause her to break down more and make extracting the information harder still.

Hinata sniffed and took a few deep breaths "he looked at me an..and..and smiled." she completed almost loosing her fragile composure in the middle but managing to hold herself together at least long enough to get her message out.

Sarutobi nodded "Alright, Rabbit, Bear. Take Naruto to the hospital and ensure he's treated, I want him guarded and watched." he frowned very softly at himself even as he gave the order, he was entrusting the lives of his medical staff to the word of a young, and probably traumatised, girl all because he desperately wanted Naruto to be ok. He resisted the urge to sigh, he was going soft in his old age, allowing his feelings to intrude on his judgements.

"Sir yes sir!" the two appointed ANBU snapped off smart salutes, Bear moving forward and gently taking Naruto out of Hinata's arms and into her own before they both shunsined away in a swirl of leaves.

"He'll be ok right?" Hinata asked softly staring at the blood, Naruto's blood, that covered her hands

Sarutobi nodded slightly "I'm sure he'll be fine." he reassured glancing at Mizuki's body and offering a silent prayer that there was a good reason why Mizuki was dead, otherwise he doubted he would be able to defend Naruto from the council. He gently helped Hinata to her feet "Horse, Raccoon, clean up the clearing, take Mizuki to the morgue." he ordered "Hawk, I want you to inform Hiashi Hyuuga of the situation, The rest of you, dismissed!" Hinata paled considerably at the mention of her father, she had stayed out of the compound well past curfew to be with, or at least watch, a boy, a boy her father had already expressed a strong dislike of no less.

There was a resounding reply of "Sir! Yes sir!" as four of the six remaining ANBU shunsined away as Raccoon and Horse moved to collect Mizuki's body.

Sarutobi gave a small nod as his orders were carried out "Shall we go somewhere a little warmer?" he asked Hinata with a gentle, fatherly, grin "I'm afraid this night air isn't very good for my old bones." he needed her calm so he could get a proper testimony from her so despite the seriousness of the situation he was remaining calm and friendly.

Hinata gave a hesitant nod and Sarutobi placed a hand on her shoulder before the pair disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

Sarutobi gave a small nod as Hinata finished her tearful recalling of the nights events, "So Mizuki had manipulated young Naruto-kun into stealing the scroll under the guise of a test." he summarised his conclusion.

Hinata giving a small nod of confirmation, that made sense, she hadn't really thought of that... but then her mind had mostly been worried about Naruto since he had taken those kunai for her.

Sarutobi allowed himself a small sigh of relief and took a puff from his pipe "Well if that is the case I suppose congratulations are in order." he grinned

"W..w..wha?" Hinata spluttered

"Where is my daughter!" an enraged Hiashi interrupted, bursting into the room as forcefully as his Hyuuga pride would allow

"Right here." Sarutobi answered calmly gesturing at the paling girl with his pipe

Hiashi rounded on Hinata "Well? What reason could you possibly have for disobeying me?" he questioned "It better be good."

"I..I.." Hinata stuttered shrinking into her chair under her father's baleful glare

"Now, now Hyuuga-san." Sarutobi interjected "Hinata has done this village a great service, surely you can't punish her for doing her duty as a ninja?" his voice was casual but with an underlying hint of steel that couldn't be denied

"Her? A great service?" Hiashi scoffed disbelievingly, Hinata's head falling at her father's lack of faith in her and her abilities.

"Indeed." Sarutobi praised offering Hinata a warm smile "She did admirably in helping thwart a plot to steal the Forbidden Scroll, she even went so far as to help us..." he paused for a fraction of a second to pick his words "detain the culprit."

"I see." Hiashi responded neutrally "Well I suppose no one can be _completely_ useless. I also heard that the Uzumaki boy was involved." his voice now carried an underlying accusatory tone.

Sarutobi nodded "Indeed he was." he agreed, he knew about Hinata and Naruto's relationship, it was a ninja village after all and things like that do not escape the eyes of his ANBU, however with Hinata displaying the ability to control, at least partially, Naruto after the Kyuubi had gained control he wasn't going to risk breaking them apart. He toyed with the idea of ordering Hiashi to allow the relationship to continue for that reason but that ran the risk of making enemies of the largest, most prosperous, clan in Konoha and he simply couldn't afford that. So for now he would help the young couple keep their relationship a secret. "Naruto was a victim of this plot." Sarutobi continued smoothly.

"Daughter, is there anything you wish to add?" Hiashi asked his eyes drilling into Hinata, he didn't dare outright dispute the Hokage's word but he didn't believe that this was just a coincidence.

Hinata shrunk under her father's gaze and shook her head "N..n...n..no fat..father." she stuttered timidly.

Hiashi frowned very slightly at the lack of any new information "Very well then, it's late and I wish to retire for the night. Come along Hinata."with that he swept out of the room not sparing Hinata a glance

"Yes f..father." Hinata stuttered falling into step behind her father.

Sarutobi watched them leave with sad eyes, he wished he could do something for the young girl, "Wasp." he spoke to the seemingly empty room once the two Hyuuga had departed

"Yes?" the ANBU in question detached herself from the shadows in the far corner of the room and stood to attention before her Hokage

"I want the medical report on Naruto Uzumaki on my desk ASAP, and please put a watched on Hinata Hyuuga, I want to know if Hiashi goes against my instructions."

Wasp snapped of a smart salute before shunsining away, returning only a few minutes later with a file tucked under one arm "Here is the medical report Hokage-sama." she offered the report to her leader.

"Thank you Wasp." the Hokage smiled as he took the envelope "And Hinata?"

"I have informed Dog of your wishes and he had placed someone on her." Wasp reported

Sarutobi nodded "Very good work Wasp. Dismissed."

Wasp saluted in response before returning to her spot in the corner of the room and fading back into the shadows. Sarutobi scanned the medical report his face grave, it was as he feared, In addition to the eleven puncture wounds, a pierced lung and stomach, and the twenty wounds where his claws had emerged Naruto had somehow sustained an impressive repertoire of internal injury. It was as though he had contracted some odd kind of necrotising virus, random patches of tissue throughout his body were just dead, no reasoning or pattern in the places, it was only because of the foxes amazing regenerative powers that he would ever be able to use his left leg again, so bad was the level of tissue damage to that particular limb. The doctors couldn't find any reason for the strange tissue death and the only explanation Sarutobi could think of was some new poison, but the blood results showed no traces of anything unusual in Naruto's bloodstream. He let out a heavy sigh, he'd just have to ask Naruto when he woke up and see if he knew anything about the mysterious injury.

Taking a long drag from his pipe he signed off Naruto's medical expenses, taking the money out of the Namikaze account as he normally did, and closed the file before pulling two empty sheets of paper from his desk drawer. After hearing of this plot and Hinata's assessment of Naruto's skill there was some serious doubt over the legitimacy of Naruto's Academy test result and he felt the best option would be to allow a straight up retake but if he did that the chances were the council would just delay that test indefinitely and Naruto would never become the ninja he deserved, and had every right, to be so instead he would have to bypass the test and just give Naruto a field promotion to genin for his actions. He gave a small sigh, this one event was going to be the cause of so much paperwork, it looked like he wouldn't be going home tonight, still it would be worth the trouble if it meant that he could spare his conscience any more burdens regarding the young blonde boy who had already suffered so much because of his incompetence.

* * *

For those who don't know what it is, A necrotising virus is the medical/scientific term for a flesh eating virus. Although I'm sure you could have googled it without my help I just thought I'd put a note here JIC.


	42. Chapter 42

Naruto gasped softly as his consciousness returned, everything hurt! He could almost feel Kyuubi's chakra moving through his body working to quell the pain the throbbed in every fibre of his being, sadly, with minimal success. He lay there for a second musing over his injury, it was almost like he was just one big sunburn, the pain wasn't enough to seriously impede him, more like annoy, but he bet moving would hurt a fair amount, he could feel a small weight on his stomach but it wasn't unpleasant so for now he dismissed it turning his mind inwards 'Kyuubi-chan?' he asked tentatively, not wanting to enter his mindscape until he had worked out what had happened, something might have gone wrong with the seal again.

There was a soft feminine moan, which sent a flash of red across Naruto's cheeks, before Kyuubi spoke 'Ugh my head.' she groaned out 'It feel like I spent the night headbutting a mountain.'

'Are you ok?' Naruto asked worried

'Yeah, I'm fine.' Kyuubi responded 'My head just hurts.' she added

Naruto let out a small breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding, now his worry about Kyuubi had been abated his mind quickly returned to it's initial problem 'What happened last night? Is the seal ok?'

'The seal is fine.' Kyuubi reassured Naruto

Naruto smiled 'Really? One sec then.' he focused for a moment and allowed himself to be pulled into the mindscape. Quickly finding Kyuubi lying, splayed out, on the grass near her house one hand resting on her forehead in some vain attempt to alleviate her splitting headache. Naruto frowned at the sight of a precious person in pain and a mere thought later Kyuubi was holding an icicle to her forehead.

Kyuubi gave a long sigh of relief as the cooling ice appeared against her forehead "Naruto-kun." she greeted sitting up and giving him a broad smile and a wave with her right hand, her left keeping the icicle against her forehead, "Thank you." she added as an afterthought.

Naruto's face scrunched into confusion for a brief second after hearing Kyuubi's thanks, what was she thanking him for? Oh right! The icicle, duh! She shook his head slightly as the realisation struck "No problem." he walked over to her and leant in planting a deep kiss on her lips, as was their usual greeting.

Kyuubi moaned softly into their kiss licking at Naruto's lips as she tried to coax her tongue into his mouth, after a brief token resistance Naruto succame to her wiles and parted his lips enough for the vixen's tongue to enter, wrapping his arms around her lithe form and pulling her close as he did so.

They kissed for about a minute before Naruto broke away, both of their cheeks a gentle pink, Naruto idly wondered why he could blush in the dream world but didn't need to breathe, Kyuubi had told him it was because blushing is linked to an emotion whilst breathing wasn't, but he didn't quite believe that.

Regaining his composure Naruto frowned faintly placing a hand next to Kyuubi's on the icicle "How'd you even get a headache?" he questioned

Kyuubi shook her head softly "It's not really and true headache so to speak." Kyuubi explained "Hmm how to word this..." she paused for a moment to think "It's more like an impurity."

"Impurity?" Naruto muttered confused "But your body isn't real?" he flinched when he realised what he had just said, Kyuubi's lack of physical form was definitely something of a taboo subject. It made Naruto feel bad for keeping Kyuubi imprisoned and it reminded Kyuubi of the freedom she now lacked, even if she tried to downplay how much those reminders hurt.

"But my mind, if you will, is in my chakra so if that chakra is disrupted or corrupted it causes me discomfort or pain."

Naruto nodded slightly "Wait! You said there was an impurity? How?"

Kyuubi chewed her lip for a moment clearly a little nervous "You had a lot of my youki in your system when we regained control and it was damaging your already badly injured body.. I had to get rid of it fast or you might have gone too far for my youki to heal." she took a deep breath "I did a rush job pulling back as much youki as I could as quickly as possible but in doing so I pulled a little of your chakra into the seal too and that is what caused this... headache."

Naruto gave a small warm smile "Thank you." he murmured his smile collapsing "But you didn't need to do that for me, not if it was going to hurt you, I'm not worth it."

Kyuubi growled her worry disappearing "You are!" she snapped angrily "You are! You are! You are damn it!" he repeated

Naruto shook his head "I might not remember clearly but I do know what I did last night... I'm a monster." he hung his own head "I don't deserve you, Hinata-chan... or anyone."

Kyuubi surged forward, the icicle dropping to the ground forgotten, and delivered a resounding slap to Naruto's cheek "Never say that again!" she yelled "Ever!" her anger evaporated and tears sprung into the corners of her eyes "Last night... that wasn't you... and even if it was... even if it was I would still love you!"

"Kyuubi-chan?" Naruto spluttered holding the cheek Kyuubi had just slapped "But..."

"No!" Kyuubi shouted her anger back "No buts! I love you, you deserve me and so much, much more! Why can't you see that!"

"If it wasn't me last night who was it?" Naruto demanded "I'm a m..."

No! No, you're not!" Kyuubi shook Naruto's shoulders tears streaming from her eyes "It wasn't you... it was me." her anger evaporated into the air replaced with deep guilt.

Naruto's head snapped up "What? What do you mean? That definitely wasn't you last night!" he insisted strongly

"No." Kyuubi agreed softly "It wasn't. But, what happened to us was my fault."

"Tell me what happened to us before you go deciding that." Naruto pushed

Kyuubi's guilt deepened and she took a small breath, ducking her head avoiding Naruto's gaze shamefully "Madara's genjutsu took over again." she stated solemnly

"What?" Naruto spluttered "I thought you beat that thing?" he shook his head "And anyway why did it affect me then?"

Kyuubi's head ducked lower, but Naruto could still see the tears rolling from her eyes, "I couldn't beat that genjutsu properly, it's still there in the back of my mind, pushing, trying to turn me back into that mindless beast." a shiver of fear ran down her spine at the idea that she'd become that... thing again

Naruto pulled her closer into a tight, comforting, hug "I had no idea." he whispered softly

"You weren't supposed to know." Kyuubi admitted equally quietly "That genjutsu of his feeds off anger , the angrier you get the stronger it's pull... I thought I'd beaten it, I thought no matter how angry I got I would be fine." she sniffed and burrowed her head into Naruto's shoulder "But then the seal broke and I repaired it, I gave us the emotional link that let the genjutsu seep into your mind as well! It's my fault... it's all my fault..." she trailed off into silence sobbing quietly into Naruto's shoulder

Naruto rubbed Kyuubi's back slowly as he let the demoness cry out all her tears "It's ok." he soothed gently, placing a finger under her chin he lifted her head and kissed the tears from her cheeks "It isn't your fault, and even if it was I'd forgive you."

Kyuubi shot Naruto a watery smile "Thank you." she murmured holding him tight as though he might suddenly vanish "Thank you." she repeated her soft mantra as she clung desperately to her lifeline.

Naruto smiled softly and gently rubbed Kyuubi's head, his small smile fading into a frown as he sighed "I guess once I wake up I'll have to find out that Hinata-chan hates me now." he muttered sadly, the idea alone was depressing and he was sure when he ehard the words from her mouth it would hurt, it would hurt... badly.

Kyuubi snuggled against Naruto giving him a little squeeze "If she hates you just for that then she isn't worth any tears." she insisted

"mmmm" Naruto replied non-committally, he appreciated Kyuubi's statement and the feelings behind it but he knew it would still destroy him when Hinata expressed her hatred or fear. "I'm going back to my body now." he continued after a pause "Will you be alright?" he was a little wary about leaving Kyuubi alone in her current emotional state.

Kyuubi gave a small nod releasing Naruto from her death grip to rub the tears from her eyes "Yeah." she stated quietly "I'll be fine. Just..." a blush crept onto her cheeks "please, kiss me and tell me.. mmmmph." the rest of her sentace was cut of as Naruto pressed his lips against hers, already knowing what she was going to ask.

The kiss was surprisingly chaste for them but filled with far more emotion than their make out sessions had ever been as each sought reassurance of their feelings from the other. They broke apart slowly, Kyuubi's blush having intensified and spread to Naruto's cheeks, "I love you Kyuubi-chan, I love you so much." Naruto whispered softly, tracing her jaw line with one hand.

A few tears of relief dripped down Kyuubi's cheek as she fought the urge to break down once again "Thank you." she whispered, it always awed her that despite all the problems she caused for the young boy he still loved her.

They kissed once more before Naruto faded from the mindscape and allowed his conciseness to settle back into his real body and slowly opened his eyes a crack before groaning and snapping his eyes shut again; the bright white walls of his hospital room hurt his eyes, noticing a soft weight across his chest Naruto took a deep breath and shifted slightly to get more comfortable, sure enough the slight movement sending waves of pain shooting through his body.

The slight movement that accompanied Naruto's return to the land of the conscious awoke the snoozing form of Hinata, who was draped across his chest, having fallen asleep watching his altogether too still form. Her eyes slowly fluttered open "ruto-kun?" she murmured sleepily

"Hinata?" Naruto croaked in surprise, it couldn't be ! She hated him! Didn't she? I mean she ahd seen him, hadn't she? How could she not, at the very least, feel scared? His eyes snapped open as he sought the source of the familiar voice, an action he immediately regretted as the sudden exposure to light burnt his retina. With a loud pained gasp he slammed his eyelids shut once again, he'd managed to make out a blurry human shape, someone was here, he had to know who it was. He needed to know if that really had been Hinata's voice or if his brain had been playing some unbelievably cruel trick on him. Taking but a few seconds to let his retina rest he reopened his eyes in a squint that let him see, just well but enough to make out Hinata's form, and still kept out most of the light. She was here? She was really here! She hadn't hated him for holding Kyuubi-chan like the others! Suddenly his pain was meaningless as a silly grin took place on his face. She was still here! A small disbelieving chuckle escaped his lips. She was still here!

Hinata let out a tiny yawn as she raised one hand to rub the sleep from her eyes, still not quite awake enough to register her surroundings, Naruto watched her with wonder in his eyes how did she make even something as ordinary as yawning cute? A moment later and Hinata finally noticed Naruto was awake "Naruto-kun!" she gasped happily moving to hug him and getting halfway before pausing, seemingly remembering that he was in the hospital and still injured, and stopping.

Naruto however lunged forward and wrapped Hinata in a deep hug, his body's cry of protest ignored, "Hinata-chan!" he exclaimed happily 'She doesn't hate me!' he told Kyuubi his voice filled with wonder and happiness

Kyuubi smiled warmly 'Of course. No girl in her right mind could help but love you.' she responded tenderly, although her voice was still watery from her recent crying, and with an air of surety that suggested she had known this outcome was inevitable even as she let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Naruto's would've lit up further had it been possible and a loving, serene, smile flashed across his face 'Thanks Kyuubi-chan. I love you' he replied sincerely.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata murmured into his shoulder as she burrowed her head into the warmth his hug provided "Are you alright?"

Naruto nodded "I'm fine Hinata-chan." he reassured her breaking from their hug for a moment to let her see the huge smile on his face and the happiness dancing in his eyes "I'm fine." he repeated to himself as though marvelling at that simple fact, and indeed he was, despite what had just happened he had emerged with nothing worse than a horrible soreness in his body and a few bad memories.

Hinata pulled him closer holding him to herself tightly "I... I'm gl.. glad." she whispered her grip tightening as tears she had held back since that night formed in her eyes "I was so scared, there was so much blood, and.. and..." her grip tightened further and Naruto had to suppress a pained groan that threatened to escape his mouth. Hinata needed this, and for her he would gladly endure the raw agony her all too tight grip was sending coursing through his nerves. "that look in your eyes." Hinata continued, he could feel the shivers of fright that ran through her body at that particular memory "That wasn't you Naruto-kun! It was the fox wasn't it?" her voice dropped in volume for the final accusation although it carried no less emotion She broke from the hug to look him in the eyes.

"No!" Naruto snapped without thinking his anger flaring at the accusation "It wasn't Kyu..." his loud defence of Kyuubi was lost in a garbled squawk as Kyuubi bellowed at him through the link.

'Idiot! Simpleton! Moron!' Kyuubi roared 'What are you saying!' she berated him with an anger born of worry of the possible repercussions should their relationship get exposed now even as her heart soared at his almost instinctual defence of her, even if in this case she deserved the blame.

"N...Naruto-kun?" Hinata inquired, now her emotions had calmed down her stutter had returned to her voice once more

'I'm telling her the truth, that wasn't you last night!' Naruto insisted had he been in his mindscape Kyuubi had no doubt he would have stomped his feet and crossed his arms to punctuate that statement.

'You can't!.' Kyuubi insisted

'Then what do I tell her?' Naruto demanded hotly

Kyuubi hesitated in her response cursing silently, if she told Naruto to tell Hinata it had been her then that would seriously hurt her chances of being able to smoothly join the relationship once she got out of this accursed seal but on the other hand if Naruto told her the truth then her plan could be exposed, not everyone was as dense as her container. 'I don't know.' she finally sighed, it was a half truth , she could think of any number of possible responses, but playing the middle ground would be safer for her plans and for Naruto 'But you can't let her know we can talk.'

"Nar..Naruto-k..kun?" Hinata repeated getting a little worried now as the silent seconds stretched out.

Naruto was only barely able to restrain the frown that was trying to fight it's way onto his face, he detested having to lie to Hinata about something this serious, "It wasn't Kyuubi... not fully." he finally spoke

"Huh? W..w..what do you me..mea..mean naruto-k..kun?" Hinata pressed confused

Naruto gave a small sigh looking to a side feigning hesitance in a bid to buy him a little more time to flesh out his excuse "Well that rage is part of my Gijime." he offered flashing the illusion on and off again quickly.

Hinata's eyes widened at the confession "W..w..what?" she spluttered

"I'm not really sure how it works but in times of extreme stress I kinda stop feeling pain and time seems to slow, but I don't normally get that kind of blood-lust..." he trailed off into silence not wanting to outright blame Kyuubi for something that wasn't her fault but allowing Hinata to fill in the blanks.

Hinata nodded slightly "S..so the K..k..Kyuubi ca..can't escape can it?" she asked worriedly

"She." Naruto growled lowly he knew how much it stung to be referred to as an it

'Naruto-kun!' Kyuubi warned, although she couldn't muster any anger to put behind it, she too felt the urge to correct anyone and everyone who put her Naruto down however unlike Naruto she didn't act on that urge, although admittedly not having a body with which she could act on the urge probably helped in that regard.


	43. Chapter 43

Kyuubi's warning took only a fraction of a second allowing Naruto to turn the hissed word into a yawn which he followed with a small embarrassed chuckle "Sorry."

Hinata giggled softly in spite of their serious conversation "Do..don't worry Naruto-kun." after a moment of contemplative silence Hinata's face firmed back into a serious look "So it can't e..es..escape can i..it?"

"No." Naruto ground out "Sh... it can't." as unguarded as he'd become around Hinata he couldn't quite hide the frustration and anger he held for this fact, Kyuubi flinches slightly as she registered his statement, for all her insistence he do so, for the sake of secrecy, it still hurt far more than she thought it would to hear him refer to her as an it, 'But I will find a way to release you Kyuubi-chan! I promise.' Naruto added mentally

Kyuubi nodded slightly 'I know you will.' she replied simply, she had absolute faith that between them they would be able to get her out of the seal without killing Naruto in the process

Hinata let out a soft sigh of relief closing the slight, unconscious, gap she had left between herself and Naruto now that her major fear had been abated "That's good." she breathed.

"Yeah." Naruto agreed through gritted teeth

"It's nice to see the two of you get along so well." Sarutobi chuckled from his position at the door to Naruto's room. His chuckles turned into laughter as the young couple jumped apart as though burnt, the sudden movement sending Naruto toppling off his bed where he landed on the floor with a loud crash.

"N..Naruto-kun!" Hinata gasped worriedly, running round the bed to help her fallen boyfriend, who was gritting his teeth to try and prevent the cry of pain from the searing agony of the sharp impact on his already damaged body.

Hinata carefully helped Naruto back into the bed blushing up a storm at the extended contact "Thanks." Naruto mumbled "I'd kiss you but..." he jerked his head slightly in Sarutobi's direction, he was under no illusion that the old man didn't already know about them, he'd spotted enough ANBU to know otherwise.

Hinata flushed a slightly deeper shade of red and shuffled her feet the loaded silence stretched out for thee long seconds as she gathered her courage "Maybe later." she finally blurted out blushing harder still and averting her gaze.

Naruto beamed at Hinata, a true smile of happiness that Sarutobi sadly admitted he barely recognised, "Definitely later, with interest." he agreed readily

Sarutobi shook his head and smiled, they were just as sweet as his ANBU reports had suggested, he was happy that Naruto had finally found someone to give him the love and attention he deserved and needed, and finally seeing the couple in person had helped dispel any lingering doubts he'd had about them. He cleared his throat to remind the couple he was there, watching with a mirthful smile as Hinata jerked away from Naruto once again, "Well you two seem to have become fast friends." he teased as he shut the door behind him.

Hinata's blush drooped a shade and even Naruto had a light dusting of pink on his cheeks at the Hokage's jab "So anyway how long was I out for old man?" Naruto asked a little hurriedly, seeing Hinata was uncomfortable with the teasing and wanting to change the subject.

Sarutobi frowned slightly "You were out for about twenty hours." he answered, that more than anything spoke volumes for the damage done to Naruto

Naruto frowned "Twenty hours?" he echoed disbelievingly

Sarutobi nodded solemnly, and Naruto took a small confirmatory glance at Hinata, who gave a slight nod of agreement, "Yes, honestly you probably need another six or so hours rest to be fully healed."

Naruto's eyes boggled, he wasn't fully healed? Of course? Duh! Otherwise he wouldn't be hurting now, he barely resisted the urge to hit himself for his own stupidity as another question popped into his mind, one he immediately voiced 'Kyuubi-chan, how much youki did I use last night?' he asked, he figured it must have been at least two tails to do this much damage.

'About half a tail.' Kyuubi responded easily

Naruto's face fell into a confused frown 'Half a tail?' he repeated 'But didn't half a tail only put me out for around four or five hours?'

'But last time the youki was just flowing through you, trying to escape.' Kyuubi explained 'That meant it did relatively little damage for the amount of youki you were exposed to.' she paused for a second to let Naruto wrap his head around the concept before continuing with her explanation, this time her voice carrying a soft undertone of guilt, 'However with what happened last night.. the youki wasn't trying to escape, it just filled you chakra coils ready for use.'

Sarutobi hummed softly to himself as the short silence stretched out, he had brought up Naruto's remaining injuries in the hopes of rousing the boy into a tantrum about staying in the hospital that would've allowed him to ask about those strange areas of narcotised flesh without appearing to be prying. But instead of the expected theatrics Naruto had suddenly turned quiet, pensive even, he sighed sadly, it was to be expected after the boy's first kill he reasoned, even if Naruto hadn't been in his right mind when he made it.

'So because my body was retaining the youki rather than releasing it, it caused a lot more damage?' Naruto concluded for Kyuubi

Kyuubi nodded 'Yeah, exactly.' she smiled softly proud of Naruto and how far his knowledge and deduction skills had come in so little time

"Naruto?" Sarutobi finally spoke up, feeling the silence had stretched out too long

"Wha? Huh.. yeah?" Naruto stumbled as he was suddenly reminded that there were others in the room

"When the medics scanned you we found some strange patches of dead flesh, do you know what caused it?" the Hokage pressed his voice full of grandfatherly concern for the young blonde. Hinata gasped in worry her hands coming up to cover her mouth as worry flared back up in her eyes.

Naruto frowned 'Dead flesh?' he asked Kyuubi

'Youki poisoning.' Kyuubi responded calmly

Naruto gave a small grunt of understanding before glancing at Sarutobi, did he seriously not know how youki affected the body? "Ummm no, sorry." he answered, no need to let information like that reach the ears of the council, and it would, it would just give them some flimsy justification for another round of let's try and execute Naruto. Then turning to Hinata he wrapped a hand around her waist, smiling at the little squeak she made, and gave her a gentle squeeze "I'll be fine,I'm not that easy to kill." he reassured her, although she saw something dark flash in his eyes.

Sarutobi frowned and hummed thoughtfully, that was annoying, he had been counting on Naruto to offer at least some insight into the strange injury as none of the multitude of tests done whilst the young man had been asleep had turned up any plausible reason for such damage. He sighed and shook his head, they'd just have to file this case away in the unsolved cabinet and move on, clapping his hands he put on a broad grin "Anyway Naruto-kun, I have good new for you." he announced cheerily

"Huh?" Naruto asked excitedly "What is it?"

Sarutobi rooted through his pocket and pulled out a leaf headband "Catch." he beamed as he tossed the headband to Naruto.

Naruto and Hinata just stared at the headband as it thudded softly into Naruto's chest, the boy too surprised to even lift his hand to catch it "Is this? Am I?" he spluttered brokenly

Sarutobi chuckled softly "Yes, congratulations genin Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto's face slowly split into a wide grin "I'm a genin?" he murmured awestruck reaching down and picking up his headband, almost reverently, with slightly shaking hands "I'm a genin." he repeated "I'm a genin!" for one brief glorious moment his mask and his true mind were equally happy. He spun round to Hinata giving her flashing her a broad happy smile "You hear that Hinata-chan! I'm a genin!" he laughed happily as he pulled Hinata into a hug and planted a quick impulsive kiss on her lips.

Hinata squeaked into the kiss her face lighting up a bright red as patches of blackness danced in her vision, the sudden kiss, in front of the Hokage no less, resurrecting the old foe of blackouts for a moment.

Naruto seemed to realise what he was doing a moment later and broke the kiss laughed nervously "heh, oops." he offered weakly

Sarutobi chuckled heartily "My, my Naruto you certainly work fast, not even conscious for an hour and already you've got yourself a girlfriend."

Naruto just shook his head refusing to rise to the barb, whilst Hinata tried, and failed, to stutter out an explanation. Naruto tied the headband in place "Really, old man, thanks." he spoke softly, sincerely.

Sarutobi smiled warmly basking in Naruto's happiness, the boy had seemed oddly cold to him of late and it was nice to see a little of the old Naruto back. "I expect you to turn up next Monday for team assignments like everyone else." he informed his newest genin.

Naruto nodded "Sure!" he agreed enthusiastically

Sarutobi gave Naruto another small smile before his jovial face became more serious "Naruto, since you're a genin now there's something I must tell you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow slightly "Oh?" he replied almost challengingly "What?" If the old man told him about his parents now he might be able to regain a little of Naruto's trust.

Hinata regarded the two curiously, feeling there was some undertone between the two she wasn't privy to. Sarutobi frowned softly at Naruto's tone of voice "Umm it might be best if Hinata leaves." he warned his eyes flicking between the two, he couldn't afford to separate Naruto from the one person who might be able to control him when the Kyuubi took control, and on a more personal note he was ecstatic Naruto had found someone to love. He knew she would find out anyway, but maybe if Naruto was the one who broke the news it would soften the blow and make it more likely for their relationship to endure.

In Naruto's mindscape Kyuubi was almost bouncing in place in excitement "Here it come." she muttered to herself, the CRA, the fruition of her plan!

Hinata made to leave and got barely two steps before Naruto grabbed hold of her wrist "Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked as she turned slightly

Naruto frowned softly at Sarutobi "What you tell me, you also tell Hinata-chan." he decreed meeting the aged Hokage's gaze and silently challenging him to say otherwise

"Naruto-kun!"Hinata gasped softly, her tone slightly admonishing but more surprised, Naruto would stand up to the Hokage, for her?

Sarutobi gave a sigh and shook his head "Very well then." Naruto had made his decision and since it wasn't important he wouldn't push the matter. He paused for a moment before continuing "As you know about a month or two ago you awakened a previously unseen doujutsu."

Naruto nodded slightly "Yeah, and?" he questioned confused, Hinata gave a soft gasp the political and legal training she received as the heir to the Hyuuga allowing her a good guess at exactly where this conversation was going,a deep red blush made its way onto her cheeks

"Well now you're a genin and legally an adult there are a few laws that come into affect." he sighed and shook his head softly "The council has decided to enact the Clan Restoration Act."

"Clan Restoration Act?" Naruto parroted as Hinata gave a surprised squeak her face a bright, luminous, red "What's that?"

"I..i..i..it...its..its.. ummm.. I …. I me.. mean I...it's..." Hinata stuttered as she tried, and failed, to explain what the CRA meant to Naruto.

A small smile flashed across Sarutobi's face, Hinata had come so far since she and Naruto had started going out, the old Hinata would have definitely been unconscious on the floor well before now, his smile disappeared and his face one again became solemn "What Hinata's trying to say is the Clan Restoration Act is a law that was put in place to protect Konoha's bloodlines, it means that you are required to have at least three wives." he concluded

Naruto's face hardened even as a huge blush spread across his cheeks "Three!" he exploded "Three wives!" so that was it, the old man had made him a genin because he wanted his bloodline, he frowned at himself for letting his happiness cloud his doubts for even a moment.

Sarutobi frowned and shook his head, he wished he could have done something more for the boy but it had been hard enough getting the council to remove their demand for impregnating each of those wives within a year. "I'm sorry Naruto." he apologized, he considered telling Naruto that we would gain clan privileges when he reached Jōnin or his first child was born but decided that mentioning children so soon after springing this on him would probably be rubbing salt in the wounds and so said nothing.

Naruto seethed mentally, so they were planning to use him as damn breeding stock! Without even giving him the clan privileges he should receive. He glanced at Hinata "Hinata?" he murmured "Are you ok?" he was a little worried she might leave because of this but she had stayed when she found out about the Kyuubi and this was less serious so that helped alleviate most of his anxieties.

"Y..y...yes" Hinata stuttered looking at Naruto "a..a..are you?"

Naruto smiled at her, despite his anger at Sarutobi and the village at large for trying to use him like this he recognised the CRA as being a huge help in his relationship with Hinata and Kyuubi "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." he said "Just surprised." he gave a little chuckle, it really seemed like this was a scenario from one of those damnable pervy books, he leant over supressing the slight wince at the pain of the movement "As long as I can still be with you." he said softly giving Hinata a gentle kiss that, coupled with the gentle loving tone of his words, instantly reignited Hinata's blush. 'You hear that Kyuubi-chan!' he called out to her excitedly 'I can marry both you and Hinata-chan!' he paused 'Although I need a third wife too apparently...' he sighed and shook his head 'Well I think about that later. But, isn't this great!'

Kyuubi beamed 'Yeah, it's perfect.' she purred happily, she hadn't expected Hinata to be so accepting of the CRA, but then again right now to her it was something that was going to happen in the future so she might have a different reaction when she actually saw Naruto with another girl... but there was already a good candidate to test this theory with, Ino had shown interest in Naruto hadn't she? Hmmm, well she'd bring that up with Naruto when she'd thought of a good way to use the young blonde girl.

'I know, right!' Naruto enthused happily "So is there anything else?" he asked Sarutobi who was watching his and Hinata's reactions with a relieved smile, there had been no explosion from Naruto and Hinata was still here so he was very pleased with the outcome.

Sarutobi chewed his lip slightly "Yes, there is one more thing..." he admitted

Naruto glanced at Hinata questioningly and the young Hyuuga just shrugged, her training had touched on the CRA but it had only been the briefest crash course and so she knew the basics but nothing more. "What?" Naruto questioned tentatively, more than a little worried about the answer he would receive.

Sarutobi paused for a moment before with a heavy heart he spoke "You only have a year to make your choices, otherwise the council will choose for you."


	44. Chapter 44

Hehe I apologize for the long break, my school work kinda swamped me for a while and my birthday gave me a bunch of shiny new distractions from my story, the pull of Fallout and Sims is strong indeed =p

* * *

There was a pause as Sarutobi's audience struggled to digest the announcement "What?" Naruto exclaimed disbelievingly "A year? Your joking right?"

Hinata went stiff at this announcement unable to voice the whirling emotions spinning through her mind a feeble "Eep!" escaped her lips

Inside Naruto's mindscape Kyuubi's celebrations froze, this wasn't supposed to happen! This deadline hadn't been in the plan! She needed to get out of the seal in a year? Without hurting Naruto... impossible! A low growl of anguish and anger rumbled from her lips, her plans, her dreams of being Naruto's wife ruined because of one man and his thrice damned council! A low growl of impotent rage tore its way from her throat even as tears threatened to well up in her eyes.

Sarutobi shook his head, his expression grim, "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but I'm serious."

Any further argument from Naruto was cut off as he heard Kyuubi's cry echo through his mind 'Kyuubi-chan?' he asked worriedly

'It's over' Kyuubi mourned to herself

'What's over?' Naruto asked worriedly

Kyuubi gave a little start as she heard Naruto's voice 'I can't get out of here in a year...'

Naruto resisted the urge to frown in concentration as he tried to understand why Kyuubi-chan was upset, wasn't the CRA a good thing for him and Kyuubi? Sure having only a year to find a third candidate sucked but it wasn't really worth crying over. No, there was obviously some angle he hadn't seen to this that Kyuubi had. This time he was unable to keep the thoughtful look on his face as he sought the reason behind Kyuubi's sadness.

Sarutobi frowned as Naruto once more lapsed into an uncharacteristic silence, he supposed the shock of this news might be the cause but still the boy's odd behaviour trigged a few alarm bells in the aged ninja's head "Naruto?" he prompted

"Huh? Yeah?" Naruto muttered distractedly, barely paying attention to the aged shinobi as he concentrated on trying to figure out why Kyuubi was upset.

"Are you ok?" Sarutobi asked, his frown growing slightly

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." Naruto answered in the same distracted tone, Kyuubi-chan had specifically mentioned getting out of the seal hadn't she? His eyes widened as he finally saw the problem his mouth forming a silent o.

Sarutobi scrutinized Naruto for a few seconds before nodding, there was definitely something wrong with the boy, he still suspected the change was just due to the shock of having the CRA sprung on him but he'd put a few more watchers on the boy just in case. "Hinata-chan?" Sarutobi continued turning his attention to the stunned Hyuuga "Are you ok?" she'd said she was fine with the CRA but this time limit changed a lot of things so he felt the need to double check the girl was still ok.

'Kyuubi-chan, I promise you. I'll get you out of this seal within a year!' Naruto vowed 'No matter what!' he added seriously keeping a mental ear out for Kyuubi's response as he switched his focus to Hinata's answer.

Kyuubi felt a surge of hope despite herself as Naruto promised to get her out, she _knew_ it was all but impossible but still for some reason she felt like, maybe, just maybe it wasn't hopeless. After all Naruto always kept his promises, always.

Hinata took a small calming breath her hand sneaking down and seeking out Naruto's for comfort, Naruto happily taking her smaller palm in his own and giving it a quick squeeze "I.. I'm fine." Hinata insisted quietly but firmly, she finally had her Naruto-kun and, although truthfully she wasn't at all happy with the idea, she wouldn't let something like this separate them.

Naruto shifted on his bed to look at Hinata "Are you sure?" he asked softly staring into her eyes

"Yeah, I am." Hinata confirmed meeting and holding Naruto's gaze even as a soft blush grew on her cheeks

Naruto held her gaze for a few seconds of tense silence searching for before a small relieved smile grew on Naruto's face "I'm glad." he murmured "Thanks." he added leaning forward and pressing his lips against Hinata's in a soft kiss.

They held the kiss for a brief moment before Hinata broke it "I've g.. got to go." she murmured regretfully, after today she really needed some alone time with Naruto to help subdue the million little worries that the thought of the CRA had brought to the forefront of her mind, "F..f..father wa..wants me to tt.. train today." Since he had been called to collect her from the Hokage's office Hiashi had been pushing Hinata's training a lot harder than usual, her training sessions were now daily instead of weekly as they had once been. Hiashi wanted to go further but wasn't about to risk given Hinata's tail anything to report.

Naruto frowned faintly capturing Hinata's lips in another brief kiss "Alright." he sighed softly "I'll miss you." he murmured

A small loving smile appeared on Hinata's face as her cheeks lit up "i..i..i'll miss y..y..yo..you too." she replied as she straightened up a reluctantly made her way towards the door. Naruto smiled and blew a kiss at her as she turned to wave goodbye, making the fading blush on Hinata's cheeks reignite.

* * *

Outside the hospital Ino allowed a small smile to cross her lips, she couldn't quite bring herself to be glad that Naruto had ended up in hospital but it represented a huge opportunity for her. This time she would be able to arrange a meeting without the Hyuuga inviting herself as well, her smile grew as she walked into the main lobby "Good evening." she greeted the woman.

The receptionist smiled warmly at the young girl "Evening Ino-san." she greeted reconsigning the young heiress

Ino smiled back at the woman "Ummm can you tell me which room Naruto.." she paused for a second to decide on a suffix "-kun." she finished

The receptionist's face fell into a soft frown "What's a nice young girl like you doing visiting someone like him?" she asked carefully, the Hokage had just been through and there might still be a few ANBU around so she had to tread carefully

Ino's face scrunched in confusion at that response, why was Naruto resented so? Sure he pulled pranks and was loud but surely that wasn't enough to warrant such a strong response? "I just heard he was in the hospital and wanted to make sure he was ok." she responded smoothly.

"You're too kind for your own good Ino-san." the receptionist smiled softly "That... _boy_" the pause and her venomous tone suggested she wanted to use something ruder there but had restrained herself "doesn't deserve any worry." she shook her head "But if you really must see him he's in room 32."

Ino nodded slowly "Thanks." she murmured giving the receptionist a small wave as she made her way towards the stairs her brow creased into a soft frown. She knew that most of the adults around town disapproved of Naruto, she wasn't blind after all, but still the pure dislike, no it was more like hate, in the receptionists words had surprised Ino, what exactly had he done to deserve such a response?

The receptionist watched Ino ascend the stairs with a small worried frown, she couldn't blame the girl for not knowing that _thing_'s true nature thanks to that silly law the third had brought in to stop parents from being able to properly warn their children of the demon in their midst. She could only hope that whatever it took for Ino and the other children to realise it's true nature wouldn't harm any of them.

* * *

"31, Ah!, here we go. 32." Ino smiled softly to herself as she stood outside Naruto's room. She stood still for a moment straining to hear any voices within the room, she knew Hinata had visited Naruto at some point but she wasn't sure if or when then Hyuuga heir had left and if, indeed, she was still in the room with Naruto then her entire plan would be blown open.

Hearing nothing Ino gave a small nod of confirmation, he appeared to be alone, and opened his door with a smile on her face "Hey Naruto, how you doing?"

Naruto blinked jumping slightly at the sound of Ino's voice "Oh! Ino... you scared me." he chuckled softly "I wasn't expecting any other visitors."

Ino frowned softly, as far as she had heard only Hinata had visited Naruto so far, she knew a few of her old classmates, the same ones who had been trying to make moves on him during the academy, had tried to visit whilst he'd been unconscious and had been turned away, but Naruto himself didn't know about them so... was Hinata really the only person Naruto expected to come see him when he was hospitalised? No. She decided, the grapevine certainly wasn't infallible, there must've been others who came to see Naruto that she hadn't heard of, definitely. She took a few steps towards Naruto "So how are you?" she questioned

Naruto gave a small grimace "Alright, I guess." he sighed "My body feels like one massive really bad sunburn."

Ino gave a slightly sympathetic wince "Ouch." she muttered "So what happened to you?" she hadn't actually be able to find out what had put Naruto into the hospital in the first place.

Naruto paused for a second his mind whirling, he hadn't expected to have to explain his injuries to anyone who didn't know about Kyuubi-chan, "Well I was kinda practicing my chakra control..." he muttered giving a sheepish grin "and I overloaded my chakra coils."

"Are you ok?" Ino asked carefully, if Naruto had lost the ability to use chakra or something she didn't want to dredge those feelings up.

Naruto nodded slowly "Yeah, I'll be fine." he reassured her "Unless I die of boredom in here." he added with a grin

Ino giggled softly "Well how long are they making you stay?"

"The old man said a few more hours." Naruto answered frowning softly

Ino raised an eyebrow at this, she wasn't exactly sure of how long it took to recover from overloading your chakra coils but she bet it was longer than a day, but said nothing. "Well then after you get out, want to get some lunch with me tomorrow?"

Naruto flushed faintly "Like a date?" he spluttered, the CRA hanging heavily on his mind making him more perceptive than he would otherwise be.

Ino flushed very faintly and grinned broadly, ha! Take that Hinata, your man was asking me on a date! "If you want it to be..." she answered

Naruto froze, did he want it to be a date? Did he even like Ino-chan? She was pretty, he could see that, but he barely knew anything about her and besides until recently she had acting like he barely existed. However he did need to find another wife aside from Hinata-chan and Kyuubi-chan otherwise the council would pick, he shuddered, that thought didn't bear thinking about. He supposed there wasn't really any harm in agreeing to go on a date with Ino, but he'd definitely need to ask Hinata-chan and Kyuubi-chan first.

'I say go for it!' Kyuubi announced happily 'Anything's better than what the council would give you.' her grin turned lewd 'Besides I definitely wouldn't mind having some fun with her!'

Naruto flushed deeply at the mental images that flashed through his brain, cursing those damn Icha Icha books for the umpteenth time.

'Awww, you know you like it really.' Kyuubi purred 'Besides your gonna be living them in a year.'

Naruto's blush climbed further 'Shut up, ero-Kyuubi!' he pleaded.

Kyuubi giggled 'Trust me you'll learn to loooove my pervy side.' she whispered seductively 'Oh, and Ino's waiting for an answer.' she added

Naruto fought down his blush with some considerable effort "I'll need to talk to Hinata." he told Ino with a small smile "If she says it's ok then we can go on that date."

Ino frowned softly, part of her wanted to laugh at Naruto's naïvety whilst the rest of her wanted to hit him for it, ask his current girlfriend if he could take another girl on a date? She shook her head "Don't worry about Hinata-san, just say yes." she pushed leaning forward giving Naruto a decent view down her top.

Naruto flushed faintly as he averted his eyes from Ino's cleavage, his make out sessions with Kyuubi-chan had gone some way to jading him to that sort of sight but he was still a boy, "I can't." he insisted "Unless Hinata says yes, it'll feel to much like I'm betraying her."

Ino's frown deepened "Forget about Hinata, come with me." she pushed

Naruto frowned getting a little angry "I can't!" he insisted "Please don't make me pick between the two of you, Hinata'll win." Kyuubi sighed and shook her head, Naruto really needed to learn the meaning of the word tact sometime.

"Why?" Ino exploded "What does Hinata have that I don't!" she couldn't believe Naruto-kun was picking that Hyuuga over her! Hinata was just so.. so plain. She growled softly as Naruto remained silent, well she'd find out one way or another! Her hands flickered through the seals for her family's primary jutsu "Mind body switch jutsu!" she declared, a shadow in the corner of the room flickered and vanished as one of the ANBU on watch went to report the development, none of them wanting to act against a clan heir without direct orders from the Hokage.

"Wait! Don't!" Naruto cried lunging up off the bed, ignoring his body screaming in protest, however he was too late as Ino's body went limp and collapsed to the ground. Naruto winced as he felt something push against his consciousness, it almost felt like when Kyuubi-chan tried to pull him into the seal but not as strong.

He turned his mind inwards preparing to dive into the seal to find Ino and get her out when Kyuubi cut in with a frantic cry 'Don't!'

Naruto froze in his tracks 'What is it?' he asked worriedly

'Don't come into the seal!' Kyuubi commanded

'What? Why? What's wrong?' Naruto panicked

'Ino forced her way into our mindscape, it put a lot of strain on the seal which was already barely held together.' There was a long pause and Naruto heard something like static over their link 'I was able to stop the seal from failing but only just. If you came in too it might fail entirely.' when Kyuubi started speaking again her voice was staticky and echoed oddly

"Fuck." Naruto swore softly 'What should we do?' he desperately wanted to dive into the seal and try and help

'I'll finish stabilising the seal then I'll find and deal with Ino.' Kyuubi declared, Naruto let out a small relieved sigh as the static had disappeared from the link allowing him to hear Kyuubi clearly once more. 'I'm sorry but you can't help with this right now Naruto' she apologized.

Naruto gripped his bedsheets tightly and gave a low growl, he hated not being able to do anything _hated_ it! But he would resist the urge to dive into the seal for Kyuubi's sake.

* * *

Ino looked around in silent awe, what was this place! Normally a persons mind was a black void with colours and lights floating around seemingly at random, there was almost never any recognisable object from the real world and even then if such a construct did exist it was always linked to a very powerful memory, but this... this was just amazing. It was as though she was in an actual clearing she could feel a soft breeze rustling her hair and hear the soft noises of nature from the trees around her. She could even feel gravity pulling her towards the ground, who _was_ Naruto? To have a mind like this should be impossible, it was just too detailed. Only the angry red cracks the ran across the sky told her she wasn't in some memory, and those seemed to be slowly closing themselves leaving a perfect blue sky in their wake.

Frowning softly Ino concentrated, if this was a normal mindscape she should be able to move around freely by exerting her will, of course in a normal mindscape this was the only way of moving as their was no ground to walk on, or even any solid concept of down. Her surroundings warped and stretched for a brief second before snapping back with a crack not unlike thunder, above her several new rends appeared in the sky, she frowned and sighed "Guess I'm walking then." she murmured picking a direction and setting off into the forest.


	45. Chapter 45

Ino walked into a clearing slowly looking around in awe, how did Naruto have such a complex mindscape? The question echoed through her mind for what felt like the hundredth time. If it wasn't for the horrible red rends in the sky and the lack of animals she might have forgotten she was even in a mindscape at all, and now the last of the tears had finished closing up only the total absence of life served to remind her she wasn't in the real world. She scanned the clearing frowning as she spotted a small-ish wooden hut nestled on the edge of the tree line, a hut? Why was that there? Her frown morphed into a grin as she jogged towards the structure, of course! This must be where Naruto's memories were! She reached out and turned the doorknob frowning as the door remained resolutely closed, she tried a second time her frown deepening as the result was the same. She tried the door a third time just to be sure, and just as before it remained stubbornly shut.

Closing her eyes Ino gave a frustrated huff, this door must represent Naruto's mental defences, she decided after a moments thought. She concentrated her mind on the door trying to force the door open by sheer willpower, a tactic the usually worked against obstacles in a person's mindscape.

Sure enough the door flew open, however this wasn't because of any particular effort on Ino's part but instead because Kyuubi had stormed out of her house "What do you think you're doing!" Kyuubi yelled gripping Ino roughly by her collar.

Ino's mind went into overdrive, who's this? Why was there a woman in Naruto's head? It couldn't be Naruto himself, it was a girl, and she was equally sure Naruto didn't have another person inside his mind... but then who or what was she? Maybe Naruto had multiple personalities? That might help explain his sudden change in behaviour over the last few months.. but then, surely she'd have met the old Naruto here rather than this violent woman? It could be a third personality, one that never managed to act externally, Ino briefly considered this idea before discarding it, no this mind's astral construct was too complete for it to be a subservient personality.

"Well?" Kyuubi demanded after the silence dragged out for a few seconds, giving Ino a shake for good measure.

"I..I..I.." Ino stuttered suddenly slightly ashamed of her, admittedly poor, reason for using her jutsu on Naruto.

"You what?" Kyuubi asked her voice calm but carrying an obvious undertone of threat

"I wanted to know what makes Hinata-san so special!" Ino snapped out flushing faintly

Kyuubi gave a low growl of anger "What?" she hissed, if had been any other person she probably would have been amused, pleased even, with the lengths Ino would go to to win over her love rivals. However it was Naruto and her impulsive act had very nearly brought her seal crashing down around them and, even though Ino had no way of knowing the full implications of her actions, she couldn't bring herself to forgive the girl that easily.

* * *

Giving a weary sigh Sarutobi poured over the finished genin teams sheets, it had taken him some time to finalise the lists but he felt good about his choices. Allowing a small smile to cross his lips he signed off the documents and stamped them with his seal. Although it was but a drop in the bucket of what he owed the boy Sarutobi was silently pleased that he had been able to arrange a team Naruto would be happy in and that would still be balanced. Hinata had, of course,been a no-brainer for him however he had been unable to think of a suitable third member for their team until he remembered his ANBUs' report on the genin graduation day. It had only been mentioned in passing but the report spoke of a possible relationship forming between Naruto and Ino, a relationship Sarutobi decided to do his best to culture, especially given the recent bomb he had dropped on Naruto's life.

Putting the finished paperwork to one side Sarutobi turned and picked up the next sheet from the small stack he was to review with a soft sigh, he hated paperwork. Scanning the document, some petition from the Leaf blacksmith to lower his tariffs on imported metals so they could produce chakra conducting weapons cheaper, Sarutobi nodded to himself, it certainly sounded like a good idea, chakra conducting weapons were a major asset for any ninja Chûnin or higher and making them cheaper would give more of his ninja access to a tool that may just save their lives. He had just started to read the proposal through properly when an ANBU blurred into view in front of his desk. Sarutobi's attention immediately shifted to the ANBU operative and his face hardened he recognised that mask, bear, one of the two ANBU currently tasked with guarding Naruto "Report." he barked authoritatively, his mind whirling with possibilities and scenarios.

"One Ino Yamanaka performed the Mind Body Switch Jutsu on Naruto." Bear replied curtly

Sarutobi's mind went into overdrive, questions flashing through his mind, why had she done it? Why hadn't his ANBU stopped her? Weren't they supposed to be getting along? What would happen with Kyuubi? He swore, now wasn't the time to be asking questions, and all but vaulted over his desk "Go inform Inoichi of the situation and bring him to the hospital." he ordered even as his form flickered away.

A faint distortion in the air of the hospital room was the only warning before Sarutobi appeared and quickly scanned the room, a wide eyed Naruto was staring at him, obviously surprised by his sudden entrance, and Ino's body was crumbled in a boneless heap next to the bed. His eyes briefly darted to the second ANBU he'd assigned to watch over Naruto, Horse, who was hiding in the shadows by the window under the Chameleon jutsu.

Naruto panicked as he saw the Hokage appear in front of his bed 'Crap, crap, crap, crap.' he incanted.

'What, what is it?' Kyuubi's voice floated back sounding much clearer than it had before, although there was still a lingering crackle that spoke of the fragile nature of the seal's current state.

* * *

Ino took a step back away from the strange woman as cold fury flashed through her eyes "I.. I told y..you! I just wanted to know why Naruto-k..."  
"Don't call him that!" Kyuubi snapped angrily "You lost that right when you barged your way in here! You have _no_ idea of what you've done!"

Ino quailed under Kyuubi's angry accusations but her fear quickly morphed into anger, she was _the_ Ino Yamanaka, her clan were the masters of the mind! How could she let this stupid construct stop her! "Then tell me!" she snapped back "What did I do that's so awful? And who are you anyway?"

"You almost destroyed this place." Kyuubi growled lowly, in spite of herself she was beginning to like this girl, she was feisty and she bet she'd be a demon in the sack, Ino went white as the thought of destroying the mindscape ran through her mind, she'd almost killed Naruto-kun? How? The mind wasn't supposed to be that weak and if it was how did he manage to create a world like this? It made no sense! "As for who I am..." Kyuubi continued pausing as though for dramatic affect although really she was buying a little time to run through her options "I'm Naruto's, let's say, guardian, and my name is unimportant."

Ino's eyes widened "W..w..what?" she spluttered disbelievingly, this girl... woman... thing, was just one of Naruto's mental defences? That just wasn't human! What the hell is Naruto?

Ino's desperate attempts to reconcile what she'd seen to what she knew were interrupted as a voice boomed seemingly from everywhere at once, it wasn't loud but at the same time one couldn't help but hear it, "Crap, crap, crap, crap."

Ino's eyes widened, she recognised that voice, even if it did sound grainy and slightly distorted, "Naruto-k..." she paused glancing at the... she'd call it a woman for now, "Naruto-san?"

Kyuubi couldn't help the faint smirk that found it's way onto her face as she heard Ino heeding her warning about calling Naruto, Naruto-kun, however her smirk quickly faded to a grim line as she looked up "What, what is it?" she spoke calmly hoping it would help allay the panic she'd felt through their emotional link.

Ino glanced at the woman who seemed to be staring at the sky talking to nobody "What are you..." she began to ask

"This is bad, the Old Man's here." Naruto's voice interrupted Ino, who, once more, went wide eyed, Naruto was talking to his mental defences? Ok, something was very wrong here! And who was this old man?

"Shit." Kyuubi cursed to herself "Anyone else?" she asked

"No." Naruto replied, Ino frowned softly, she just had the distinct impression Naruto was shaking his head although she couldn't see anything, it felt weird, "Although he looks kinda like he's waiting for something," Naruto continued sounding thoughtful, although the slight distortion of the link did make it hard to pick out, "he hasn't really said anything yet, just put Ino-chan's body on a bed."

Ino smirked faintly "Hah! See, Ino-chan! He still like me!" she taunted Kyuubi a strange mix of relief, that Naruto still thought well of her despite this, and smugness, that she hadn't been out of line calling him Naruto-kun, buoying her mood immensely despite her current predicament.

Kyuubi sighed and shook her head slowly "Of course he does." she murmured softly "That little moron would forgive anything." despite her insult her voice was soft and affectionate.

Ino blinked, she recognised that tone of voice... she face twisted, ewwwww, Naruto's own damn mental defences liked him? What the fuck?

"Fuck!" the loud panicked swear word from Naruto cut across any conversation "Mind-walker-san." just arrived

"Mind-walker-san?" Ino echoed raising an eyebrow

"Inoichi." Kyuubi muttered to herself "Dammit."

"Daddy?" Ino muttered hearing Kyuubi muttering his name "Daddy!" she called as though she thought he would be able to hear her.

"Daddy?" Kyuubi repeated glancing at Ino thoughtfully, she supposed they did look alike, but then most humans looked the same to her.

"Kyuubi-chan! He's preparing to come in after Ino-chan!" Naruto's voice warned

Ino stared at the woman "Kyuubi?" she murmured quietly "No.. no, it can't be."

Kyuubi swore loudly "Can you stall him, if he comes in the seal will collapse totally!"

Ino backed away taking a few steps away from the monster, that woman was the Kyuubi? And she was friends with Naruto-kun? She shuddered in fear, what had Naruto-kun done to befriend, even woo, the strongest, most evil, being in existence? She didn't dare think of the death he would have had to cause to make her swoon like that.

"I know!" Naruto replied hurriedly "And I'm trying, you need to get Ino-chan out now!"

Ino turned to try and run away from the demon but Kyuubi swiftly wrapped her in a tail and yanked her back with a sigh as she saw the frantic fear in the young girl's eyes "I guess there's no need to hide these now you know." she mused as she allowed her other eight tails to unfurl.

Ino squirmed trying desperately to escape the fox's tail "No, no, I won't tell anyone, I'll do whatever you want! Just please! Don't kill me!" she shrieked hysterically tears pouring from her eyes.

Kyuubi gave a low growl, she needed to concentrate and Ino's screaming wasn't helping, shaking the babbling girl "Be quiet!" she snapped, a small smile appearing on her face as Ino immediately fell silent, "Good." she purred lifting another tail up, a small, tennis ball sized, ball of luminescent, rainbow, energy hovering inches above the tip of it.

Had Ino been in a more relaxed state of mind she probably would have recognised the small sphere as a collection of memories but petrified as she was she saw only an attack and the terrible myriad of ways it could kill her as the sphere inched closer to her forehead she finally burst out in desperate pleas once again, fruitlessly struggling against Kyuubi's iron grip.

The sphere flickered and wavered and Kyuubi gave another small growl of annoyance, dammit holding this technique together was hard enough without a stupid girl distracting her! She shook Ino again "Silence!" she demanded angrily "I won't kill you, stupid girl." she continued, a small grin on her face, "But if your still sane after this then I think you'd have earnt the right to call Naruto Naruto-kun once more."

Ino looked confused for a second before the memory sphere touched her forehead and sunk into her mind, then the screaming started. Kyuubi looked on for a second as the girl writhed on the floor, clutching her head, before ejecting Ino from the seal.

* * *

Out in the real world Inoichi was flashing through his hand seals, fully intent on saving his little princess, whilst Sarutobi looked on grimly lamenting the situation, couldn't life just let Naruto have one good thing?

'We're out of time!' Naruto warned Kyuubi frantically 'Kyuubi-chan, get Ino-chan out, now!'

'I am, she should wake up...' there was a slight pause 'Now!'


	46. Chapter 46

Out in the real world Inoichi was flashing through his hand seals, fully intent on saving his little princess, whilst Sarutobi looked on grimly lamenting the situation, couldn't life just let Naruto have one good thing?

'We're out of time!' Naruto warned Kyuubi frantically 'Kyuubi-chan, get Ino-chan out, now!'

'I am, she should wake up...' there was a slight pause 'Now!'

There was a horrific pause in which nothing happened, Ino remained damningly still and silent, the second hand of the clock on the wall ticked once, twice, Inoichi flashed through the last couple of seals for his jutsu. Then the screaming started.

Inoichi's fingers slipped slightly and what would have been a perfect dragon seal became a garbled mess an academy student would have been ashamed of, his chakra flared off as the poorly formed seal disrupted the delicate technique. He spun round to face his daughter "Ino! Princess!" he cried , distraught, rushing to her side.

Sarutobi let out a tiny sigh of relief, even as he felt a little guilty for doing so, Ino was back in her own body and the fox hadn't managed to posses her so at least neither of his true worst case scenarios had occurred. He took the three short steps to Ino's bedside and took a closer look at the girl, her eyes were wide and panicked as they darted frantically around the room.

'What happened to Ino-chan?' Naruto all but demanded, his gaze lingering guiltily on her

'She found out that I was _the great and terrible Kyuubi no Kitsune_' her voice was layered with sarcasm but Naruto could pick out a faint undertone of pride in her reputation.

'What?' Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and worry 'How? What are we going to do?'

'She found out because you told her.' Kyuubi sighed softly, although he appeared to have got his emotions more under control through her lessons apparently he still couldn't face a potential crisis without freaking out.

Naruto opened his mouth unthinkingly to yell a denial, luckily his brain caught up with his body before he actually made any noise and he clicked his mouth shut once more, turning his screaming inwards, 'I didn't! I swear! I'd never let the secret slip like that!' he defended himself frantically, fortunately Sarutobi and Inoichi where still busy fussing over Ino who appeared to have calmed down slightly, he screaming stopping, although her eyes where still wide and frantic

'Clam down!' Kyuubi interrupted Naruto's defensive tirade 'You did tell her when you warned me about Inoichi, you called me Kyuubi-chan.'

Naruto paled 'What?' he spluttered 'She.. she heard me?' his voice was soft and disbelieving as every fibre of his being willed this to be some kind of joke.

Kyuubi gave the barest of nods 'Yes, she did.' she confirmed, 'But don't worry! I took care of it, she won't tell anyone, anything.' she continued quickly before Naruto could panic.

This gave Naruto pause as he glanced at Ino, who seemed to have finally calmed down enough to recognise the people in the room and had dove for her dad with a muffled cry of "Daddy!" wrapping her arms around him and holding him tightly as though he were a lifeline.

'What did you do?' he asked worriedly

Kyuubi knew she couldn't tell Naruto everything, there was no way he would approve of her actions if he knew their entirety 'I gave her a few memories of y..our past.' she informed him solemnly 'The shock of those memories should mean she doesn't remember me.'

Naruto visibly winced, glancing at the stricken kunoichi as she cried inconsolably into her father's chest, 'How much did you give her?' he asked carefully, worried about the answer 'And what?' he had some memories he wouldn't even wish on his worst enemy.

'Not much, and not those ones.' Kyuubi answered 'I just gave her the vague feelings rather than the full memory, enough to cause shock without being directly linked to you.' This was a half truth, she had left just enough behind for Ino to be able to prove to herself that they were memories and that Naruto had felt them along with overlaying her own feelings of the attacks over the top. Hopefully feeling her guilt and love for Naruto would allow Ino to fall for him herself, that or the memories would drive her insane, either way the problem went away. For now her phantom loyalty to Naruto from Kyuubi's own emotions would prevent her saying anything and hopefully in the future that would be replaced by her own honest emotions, and if she went insane, well who would believe the testimony of an insane girl.

Naruto frowned softly, he still wasn't pleased with what had happened but he also knew this was the lesser of two evils, he would just have to make it up to Ino later. He watched on guiltily as Ino slowly brought her crying under control, reducing it to small hiccups as silent sobs continued to wrack her body, Inoichi rubbed her head holding her close and making soft soothing noises, for but a brief moment a powerful jolt of jealousy shot through Naruto before he clamped it down with a frown, he thought he'd grown past that damn phase.

Sarutobi, mostly satisfied that Kyuubi hadn't managed to corrupt or posses Ino, turned to face Naruto although he positioned himself so Ino was still visible in his peripherals, you couldn't be too careful after all,"Naruto-kun," he spoke kindly but firmly "what happened?"

Naruto took one last, guilty, look at Ino and Inoichi before replying "I don't know, Ino used some mind-walker jutsu on me, like Mind-walker-san and then she started screaming... what happened to her? Why is she screaming?" Naruto asked with feigned confusion

A lesser ninja may have stumbled at having his questions turned against him so easily however Sarutobi wasn't the Hokage for nothing and only a minuscule twitch of his jaw betrayed any sort of hesitance before he answered smoothly "I don't know too much about the Mind Body Switch Jutsu, it's a Yamanaka clan technique after all." he admitted "But I can guess she saw something... unpleasant" Naruto flinched as he said this "in your memories, and that's why she's screaming."

'Unpleasant!' Kyuubi roared furious at Sarutobi's apparent dismissal of Naruto's suffering 'If these memories are unpleasant I'm going to do something horrifying to you!' although he didn't quite understand why Kyuubi had gotten so worked up by this Naruto nonetheless felt the familiar warmth pooling in his chest as he heard someone stand up for him, even if no-one else could hear her.

"Ino, Princess?" Inoichi started, gently rubbing his daughter's back

Ino looked up her tear streaked eyes meeting his worried blue orbs "mmm?" she murmured quietly

"Could you tell us what you saw?" Inoichi probed gently, he hated to ask but he understood the need to know what had happened.

Ino shuddered in her father's arms "There were so many people, chasing me," the faces of the mob were fuzzy and indistinct but she could swear she recognised a few of them "I ran, to the alley that would mean I was safe.. but there was someone waiting... they caught me" her voice was soft and quiet "then I felt pain.. so much pain..." she trailed off as she welled up and her sobs overwhelmed her once more.

Inoichi bit his lip and glanced at Sarutobi who looked on solemnly "Did you see anything else?" he continued

"Mmm I was somewhere.. I don't know where... my hands and feet hurt so badly and I smelt oil... and then... and then..." her whole body seemed to convulse with phantom pain

Naruto flinched on his bed, he remember that night, he'd been pinned to the wall with a kunai through each hand and his feet whilst they had built up the bonfire around him. The ANBU hadn't turned up for a good minute, well he thought it was a minute it had seemed infinitely longer, after the fire had been lit.

Inoichi and Sarutobi exchanged a look and nodded Inoichi turning his attention back to Ino who had reverted back to near hysterical sobbing as the memories she absorbed had been brought back to the forefront of her mind "Shhh, shh." he soothed "Just rest baby, you did great, just go to sleep princess." Ino suddenly fell silent and slumped in his arms as Inoichi used a minor genjutsu to induce sleep.

"Is.. is Ino-chan ok?" Naruto asked carefully

Sarutobi nodded faintly "She'll be fine, she just needs some rest." he assured Naruto, no point worrying the boy any further, what happened no would depend on how Ino dealt with the traumatic memories she'd received.

"I'll get her another room." Inoichi spoke up hefting his daughter into a bridal carry as he stood up

Sarutobi nodded "I think there's one free down the hall." he agreed, neither of them wanted to leave her with Naruto right now in case seeing him caused her to dwell on those painful memories.

Sarutobi nodded glancing at Naruto and giving him a reassuring smile "Get some sleep, it's late." he told his pseudo-grandson as he left to trail after Inoichi, he'd have to get some ANBU to watch Ino from now on, just in case the Kyuubi had done some more long term damage to the poor girl, then there was the question of punishment for using her technique on another Konoha ninja. He shook his head and sighed softly as he gently closed the door to Naruto's room behind him, that was a conversation he wasn't going to enjoy.

Naruto silently wondered why Ino was being moved to another room when there was an empty bed right next to his, although he soon chalked it up as one of those _adult_ things that made no sense. Kyuubi silently cursed as Ino was carried away, she had be counting on their proximity to reinforce the emotional hooks she had built into the memories, if they were kept separate there was a good chance the hooks wouldn't take and nothing would be stopping Ino exposing her and Naruto. No, she shook her head determinedly, she couldn't allow that to happen. 'Naruto.' she spoke softly her voice interrupting his silent guilty musings as he stared after Ino's limp form.

'Yes?' Naruto replied quickly

'You want to make it up to Ino right, for the memories?' Kyuubi prompted carefully, she disliked taking advantage of Naruto's nature like this but it was necessary

'Of course!' Naruto enthused sounding slightly offended that she might think otherwise.

'She was after a date when she came in, give her a good one?' she suggested shaking her head slightly, sometimes it was just _too_ easy to manipulate him, she loved him but she really had to teach him when he was being manipulated.

Naruto's face lit up as he settled back into the bed with a series of small grunts and pained hisses as his over-sensitive skin rubbed against the sheets 'That's a great idea Kyuubi-chan!' he exclaimed enthusiastically 'I'll take her on the best date she's ever had!' he nodded to himself.


	47. Chapter 47

Naruto, as usual, awoke slowly dragging himself out of the hospital bed he slipped out of the hospital gown and back into his usual clothes. For a brief moment he panicked when he couldn't find the pendant he had gotten from Hinata, but after a few moments of frantic searching he found it in his pocket and slid it on letting loose a breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding, the pendant represented both the only link to his parents he had and his first concrete proof of affection from Hinata.

Opening the door to his room Naruto was half expecting either a doctor or an ANBU to force him back into the bed to get some more unneeded rest. Smiling softly when no such interruption occurred he turned and started walking up the corridor, he guessed Ino's room would be close by and he was eager to make it up to her for all the memories Kyuubi had been forced to give her yesterday... or earlier today... he wasn't quite sure exactly how late it had been. However he had hardly gotten more than a few steps before he realised he hadn't asked Hinata if it was ok to take Ino on a date. Frowning softly at himself he wheeled around, he couldn't believe he'd almost done that to Hinata-chan, 'Kyuubi-chan, are you awake?' he inquired as he ambled towards the main hall to check himself out, chuckling softly when all he got was a few soft, feminine, mumbles from Kyuubi, she could be worse in the mornings than he was. Reaching the desk he rang the bell to get the attention of the secretary on duty.

"Coming!" a chirpy voice sounded from the small record storage room behind the desk, a rather overweight woman, with dirty blonde hair, bustled out her friendly smile fading when she saw who it was"Oh, it's you." there wasn't much real venom in her voice, rather it was empty, hollow, as though Naruto had sucked all the emotions out of her.

Naruto frowned softly "I'm here to check out." he stated simply his smile slowly returning as he replaced his usual emotional barriers.

The woman nodded picking up a pen "I'll sign you out." she said rifling through the innumerable sheets of paper that scattered the desk until she found the one she was looking for and quickly noting down the time of departure, crossing Naruto off the patient list "Ok, you can leave now." although her voice remained mostly neutral it was obvious to Naruto she wanted him gone.

"Yes!" he cheered "Finally out of the damn hospital!" shooting her a large, if forced, grin he turned and left letting his eyes briefly glance at the clock as he turned, hmmm 6:34, he mused, Hinata-chan probably would still be at home then. He let out a small frustrated sigh as he exited the hospital and headed for the Hyuuga complex, he couldn't knock and ask for her either, god knows what her father would do to him if he could do _that_ to his own daughter and, even if he was perfectly polite to him, knowing what he did about how he treated Hinata Naruto doubted he would be able to stop himself trying to knock his block off. Shaking his head to clear aside that particular train of thought before he got too angry he gave another sigh, looks like he was sneaking in.

* * *

Hinata was always something of a light sleeper and that had only been exacerbated when she'd almost been kidnapped as a child so when she heard something opening her window her eyes snapped open her brain jumping to full alert.

Naruto smiled as he straightened up, a small blush forming on his cheeks, he was in Hinata-chan's room! Sure he'd been in here before but that had been for pranks before they'd gotten together. Seeing a lump beneath the duvet he smiled "Hinata-chan? Are you awake?" he spoke quietly, although the walls had seals to prevent the Byakugan seeing through them they had no such soundproofing.

Hinata froze beneath her covers, where she had been palming the lone kunai she always slept with since learning how to throw the bladed weapons, "Naruto-kun?" she gasped, what was he doing in her room? How did he get here? How did he even know where her room was? These and many other questions whirled through her mind.

Naruto chuckled softly at the surprise in her voice "Yep!" he chirped

Hinata threw off the covers and stared "It really is you!" she gasped as she stared at Naruto "What are you doing here?"

Naruto said nothing staring back at her his small blush slowly deepening, Hinata was wearing her pyjamas, a soft pink two piece set that although it was modest still showed off her budding figure much better than her normal clothes.

Hinata squirmed slightly under Naruto's intense gaze wondering why he was staring before realisation struck, she was in her pyjamas! Her face lit up and with an embarrassed squeak she dove for her duvet wrapping it around herself hiding her head in the covers in the same way she usually did with the thick collar of her jacket.

Naruto flushed, god she looked so cute like that, he just wanted to push her down and... and... his face lit up and he rapidly shook his head, those goddamn pervy books! He swore if he ever found the author he'd give him a good hard kick in the nuts for all the trouble he had caused him! "Umm, hi?" he waved with a weak, nervous, laugh.

"H..h...hi." Hinata stammered back drawing the duvet around herself tighter

Naruto grinned "I came to ask you if you'd mind me taking Ino on a date..." he asked bluntly "since we had to skip out on the joint dinner date."

Although she had been somewhat expecting a question like this at some point Hinata still felt a sharp pang in her heart at the question. However she felt she had to agree, she had said she was fine with the whole CRA thing in the first place so she couldn't just turn down every girl he asked out "I d.. do.. don't min.. mind." she agreed meekly.

Naruto moved a little closer "Are you sure?" he questioned carefully "Really sure?" although he did desperately want to make it up to Ino it wasn't worth hurting Hinata-chan and if she said no he'd just have to come up with another way of making it up to the girl.

Hinata nodded, steeling herself, if Naruto wanted to date Ino and it would make him happy she wasn't going to be selfish and stop him "Yes." she assured him her voice filled with conviction that she couldn't honesty say she felt.

Naruto beamed at her pulling her into a kiss "Thanks, Hinata-chan! You're the best!" he praised with a wide grin that, coupled with the sudden kiss, threatened to overwhelm Hinata as her blush, that had been slowly fading, reignited. "See you later then!" Naruto smiled brushing his lips against Hinata's in another brief kiss "I better get going before someone sees me." he laughed climbing back onto her windowsill and shooting her one last loving gaze before vaulting off.

Hinata stared after him as he left as though he'd never been, leaving her mind and heart in a absolute mess as a myriad of emotions warred for dominance.

* * *

Walking back towards the hospital Naruto mused over what he could do for a date, he knew fairly little about Ino and certainly wasn't about to talk to any of her friends, going over what he knew most of it was fairly useless and after a fair bit of thought the only real piece of knowledge he had to work with was that she liked flowers. He sighed softly for the third time that morning "Flowers?" he mused aloud his walking slowing to a snails pace as he planned the date out.

It took his a few minutes of pointless wandering to finalise his plans, pulling out his gama-chan he opened him up and peered inside critically, he had a fair amount of cash, not enough to get a meal as Naruto but enough for anyone else to... he grinned, god he loved having access to ninja techniques! Henge especially had been a huge help to him, although he had learned from bitter experience to visit shops on the outskirts of town or in shady area lest he run into another ninja, capable of dispelling his transformation, in the shop.

His mind set Naruto turned down a side alley heading for one of his regular shops, he'd throw up his henge two blocks away from the store as usual, planning on buying some breakfast... well brunch really, for himself an Ino.

* * *

Ino was normally an early rising but with the memories Kyuubi had forced on her she'd had a very fitful nights sleep and so was still asleep when Naruto slid into her room, the food held in a simple plastic bag, he having not gone home to fetch a backpack. Smiling he put the bag on a side and walked over gently shaking Ino awake "Ino-chan?" he called "Time to get up?"

Ino grumbled as she was shook awake opening one eye to see what it was "What?" she croaked

Naruto grinned "Time to get up." he reiterated

Ino frowned at the odd sense of normality that washed over her, her cheeks heating up at his smile, it was as though this had happened many times before but it hadn't, she knew that. Shrugging it off as a quirk of her tired mind she stretched and covered a wide yawn with her hand "What time is it?"

"Eight-ish, I think." Naruto replied easily, moving to the window he peered up at the sun "More like eight thirty." he corrected after a moment's scrutiny

"You can tell the time from the sun?" Ino asked a small amount of awe in her voice, she'd never been able to grasp that particular skill even though her dad had tried to teach her a few times.

"Well, yeah." Naruto admitted

"When did you learn?" Ino asked genuinely interested in where he had picked up the skill, after all he hadn't had any parents to teach him and he certainly didn't seem the type to read.

"I just kind of picked it up." Naruto answered with a nervous chuckle,it was the truth, he had never really set out to learn it he'd just slowly acquired the skill, but he knew it'd sound like he was trying not to evade the question or lie.

"Really?" Ino pushed leaning forward on the bed

Naruto nodded "Really, I don't even know when I learnt it, it just happened."

Ino observed him for a few seconds, nothing was telling her he was lying, and she was pretty good at telling if someone was lying or concealing something, "Ok then." she nodded

There was a moment of silence before Naruto spoke up "Oh right!" he chuckled "Umm I came to ask if you wanted to go on a date with me?"

"So you've decided you don't need to ask Hinata?" Ino smirked pleased she'd won out over the plain Hyuuga girl

"What? No! Of course not." Naruto defended himself sounding slightly offended that she would think otherwise.

Ino's brow knitted "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I asked her and she said yes?" Naruto replied blithely curious as to what other answer Ino thought there could have been.


	48. Chapter 48

There was a pregnant pause as Ino's thought process screeched to a stop "What?" she exploded

"She said she was ok with it?" Naruto repeated a little put off by Ino's reaction but refusing to be deterred as he smiled "So let's go."

Ino opened her mouth to protest, there was _no_ way any girl would willingly let her boyfriend see someone else was there? Maybe Hinata liked girls too... she scrapped that train of thought quickly, no she was far too proper to be like that... so then why? It just didn't make sense, she knew the girl was meek, and rather lacking in backbone, but in this case at least she must've been able to put her foot down. Still... she shouldn't be looking a gift horse in the mouth "Ok then." she nodded her agreement pushing herself from the bed "Where to?" she asked curious as to what Naruto's plan for their date was, she had been expecting a ramen binge by what she knew of him but unless that lunch bag of his was filled with the stuff it didn't seem as likely any more.

Naruto laughed softly and grinned "Secret!" he chanted playfully offering his hand to the other blonde "Come on, let's get out of here." his tone made no secret of his distaste for the hospital.

Ino nodded gently taking Naruto's hand, a small flush appearing on her cheeks, she'd never realised how big his hands where until his large palm easily encircled her smaller dainty one, or how smooth. She frowned softly running her fingers lightly across his palm, the sensation sending pleasant tingle down Naruto's spine, it was too smooth, he was a shinobi he should have at least some callouses in his hands, heck even she did! But, nothing, his hands where smooth as a baby's. She never thought she'd ever be jealous of a man's hands, let alone Naruto's...

Oblivious, as usual, to Ino's internal monologue Naruto lead the girl out of the hospital, pausing only to suck in a deep lungful of the fresh, unsterilised, air "Come on." he chirped happily.

Ino nodded letting Naruto lead her through the town, getting increasingly curious as to where they were heading but knowing she would be unlikely to pry a worthwhile answer from Naruto before they arrived. She hoped it would be somewhere in the village centre where most of her classmates would likely be, she really wanted to show them that she had won, she had taken Naruto out from under them, barring the whole Hinata situation but she was sure after this date it would be quickly resolved, Naruto would leave Hinata to be hers and she would prove herself as the top girl in the class. But what if Naruto didn't want to break up with Hinata? The thought drifted unbidden into her mind, would making him break up with the Hyuuga heiress make him sad? She didn't want to make Naruto-kun sad after all... she shook her head. Where the hell did that thought come from, she really didn't mind pressing him into a decision, she had no desire to share him at all!

Still blissfully oblivious to Ino's thoughts Naruto lead her the more open, but longer, route through town to the destination he had in mind, he didn't really think she would appreciate the quicker route that snaked through the gardens and back alleyways that Naruto knew on an almost instinctual level.

Ino grinned as her eyes caught some of her classmates sitting at a café just a little ahead of them her face lighting up as she got a chance to show off her victory she pressed herself against Naruto, moulding her body to his side and wrapping an arm around his waist. Her face lightning up softly as she realised the intimate position didn't feel wrong at all, in fact it felt so right and somehow... familiar? But that was impossible. Mentally shaking off the odd feeling she smirked broadly as the small gaggle of girls noticed them, basking in the jealous glares she received, ah it was good to be the queen!

Naruto blushed as he felt Ino press herself against him glancing down at her, somewhat galvanised to the feeling of a soft feminine form pressing against him from his multiple sessions with Kyuubi a soft flush spread across his face but he didn't freak out as he might once have. "What are you doing?" he asked curious, his tone carefully neutral, if he sounded like he was enjoying it, which he was, then he might come off as a pervert but likewise he knew sounding like he was annoyed by a female's closeness was just as, if not more, dangerous than being called out as a pervert.

Ino looked up at Naruto as he talked her face heating up further as she met his curious eyes "Ummm, I was.. I mean I.." she stuttered searching for an answer "I just wanted to be closer to you." she finally spoke softly, the words springing into her scrambled mind from seemingly nowhere, surprised by just how much she seemed to believe her own words, being closer to Naruto defiantly seemed like a good thing and, just for a moment, suddenly what the other girl's thought didn't matter to Ino she just wanted to show Naruto how much he meant to her.

Naruto smiled softly, those had been the exact same words Kyuubi-chan had used when they had walked like this through the forest of his mindscape, and nodded pulling Ino closer still "You should have said." his smile grew as he wormed his arm around her waist and held her flush against himself, by now the couple was getting quite a few stares from the people they passed in the street but Naruto was so used to glares that he really didn't notice them, happy as he was he barely even registered the multitudes of eyes locked onto the couple as the meandered down the high street.

Ino, however, was not so jaded to glares and stares. Oh sure she was used to them, fond of them even, being an outgoing, popular, girl almost every facet of her behaviour had been tailored to garner attention. Whether it be the longing stares of boys who wanted her, the jealous stares of girls lower down the pecking order of herself, or the loving gaze of a boyfriend she had thrived on attention throughout her school life but these were different, the gazes of the villagers sent shivers down her spine. The stares directed at the couple were different to the jealous stares she had thoroughly enjoyed getting from her classmates, instead people were looking with an odd mix bag of emotions in their eyes. Some looked on with pity or fear, as though Naruto were diseased or she were a hostage, others, anger, as though the couple were somehow offending them by their very existence, such anger she would expect from her parents, who were always overprotective, or some of her classmates, who would definitely resent her getting to the new trophy boy first. But from strangers who'd never met either of them, it just made no sense as she mused on the issue a strong lance of alien guilt struck her, it lasted for but a brief moment but left an ache in her heart that would last of hours.

Naruto glanced over as he felt Ino stumble slightly in her step "You ok?" he asked worried as he scanned the floor for anything that she might have tripped over but finding nothing.

Ino took a deep, steadying, breath before nodding "Yeah, I'm fine." she replied slowly as she tried to work out where that intense sudden guilt had come from.

Naruto nodded glancing around to try and spot any reason for her stumbling, his gaze locking onto a small group of men who were glaring at them for the first time since getting Ino out of the hospital he became consciously aware of the number of glares he and Ino were getting. Cursing his own stupidity he sped up their walking pace, how the hell hard he forgotten about the damn villagers! He was used to it but Ino definitely wasn't that was why she had stumbled, she just wasn't able to shrug off the angry glares of the stupid civilians. Not for the first time Naruto felt a spike of rage towards the ignorant masses however he slowly counted to ten inside his head pushing his rage down and locking it away in the back of his mind, where it belonged, sure Mind-walker-san had said something about repressed anger being unhealthy but Naruto hadn't seen any bad affects so far, maybe being a jinchuuriki helped him in that regard as well he silently mused.

Ino gave Naruto a confused look as he suddenly sped up, not enough to leave her behind or make her jog but enough to be noticeable, and changed direction. Noticing her confused look Naruto gave a slightly melancholy smile "Sorry I didn't think about the villagers, we'll take the back route so they don't ruin our date further."

Ino frowned "Sorry? You're speaking like it's your fault, like you're used to it." she accused pausing as her, rather patchy, memories of the night before finally kicked in "The Kyuubi." she whispered answering her own question. Up in the rooftops above the couple the ANBU assigned to watch them shifted prepared to swoop in if there were any signs of Ino either relapsing or falling under any kind of control. Sarutobi might have been getting on but his mind hadn't completely gone yet and he was more than aware of the threat Ino represented, having been in direct contact with the great fox, he was, however, trying to avoid preventing the two teenagers from interacting not wanting to do anything to rile Naruto up too badly so soon after dropping the CRA on him. The boy had great potential but he was unpredictable and already had too many reasons to dislike the village for the old Hokage's comfort, he just couldn't risk falling on the boy's bad side as well lest he sever the last real, concrete, bond the boy had to Konoha.

Naruto winced softly at the fear with which Ino had spoken Kyuubi-chan's name, he really needed to figure out a way to get away from his ANBU shadows so he could explain the full situation to at least Hinata, if not Ino too. "Yes." he admitted softly "Kyuubi." he bit his tongue to stop the chan flowing out automatically and gave Ino a sad smile "I'm sorry I forgot how they'd react if I walked with you in public." they were now leaving the village by one of the smaller side gates and heading out into the forest.

"Where are we going?" Ino felt the urge to ask as they left the beaten path, Naruto leading her on a weaving route that threaded around the dense foliage of the forest that gave Konoha it's name.

Naruto chuckled softly "Aww come on" he teased "Not long now, surely you can wait a little longer." he smirked feeling a lot better now there were no villagers to ruin things for them.

Ino rolled her eyes but giggled softly glad to leave the depressing conversation behind them, although she did have loads of questions for Naruto especially to do with.. those... memories... she shuddered visibly as she recalled those horrible moments glancing at Naruto, running her eyes over his body looking for the scars the medical course of the Shinobi Academy told her he should have. However despite the questions she was silent as the rest of the walk was in a soft companionable silence.

* * *

"Here we are." Naruto announced proudly as they walked into the clearing "I only really knew that you liked flowers." he chuckled

Ino gawked softly as she looked out over the clearing, a few small trees dotted the area but largely the open patch was dominated by low grass and wild-flowers of all shapes and sizes. The shinobi in her guessed the clearing had probably been made by some high level jutsu years ago even as the rest of her took in the rainbow of colours provided by the flowers "It's beautiful." she muttered softly, awed, she had no idea a place like this even existed

Naruto smiled warmly as he sat down on the edge of the clearing, not really knowing how she'd react if he were to trample any of the delicate blossoms that covered the ground here, "Sit, you must be hungry." he chuckled "And even if you're not, I am." he added with a grin.

Ino giggled softly and smiled as she sat down her face gently flushed, she really had no idea Naruto could be so... well romantic, she'd had him pegged as an idiot, a loud-mouth, yet since she'd decided to look at him more seriously he'd managed to shatter everything she'd thought she'd known about him. Although, she admitted, as she watched Naruto pour a huge variety of food from his bag, he could still act a little stupid from time to time.

Naruto saw Ino eyeing the pile of miscellaneous food incredulously and chuckled bashfully, rubbing the back of his head, "Umm I didn't know what you liked, so I got a bit of everything." he explained "So just take what you like."

Ino palmed her face softly to hide her grin, this was more what she had expected from a date with Naruto, a sweet but idiotic gesture "Why didn't you just ask?" she sighed exasperated even as she silently enjoyed the knowledge that Naruto had gone so far for her

"That would have ruined the surprise." Naruto answered simply, that and he hadn't know he was going to go on a date till the night before but what little tact Kyuubi and Hinata had managed to beat into him was screaming at the rest of his brain not to mention that particular fact.

Ino nodded, although she couldn't quite believe that, she knew that Naruto could be sneaky when he wanted to be, honestly it had taken quite a lot for him to prove that given his usual loud-mouthed behaviour in class but since seeing their classmate but the village ANBU through their paces or prank a Jōnin every one of his classmates had, however bitterly, to concede Naruto could be sneaky. She was certain he could have easily discovered her favourite food was, oddly, Taiyaki if he had tried, but she decided not to bring it up, after all this date had to go well if she was to steal him from Hinata, not that she really thought it would be too hard to do so, Hinata was just so.. plain. Picking through the food, and it seemed he really had gotten one of everything in the store, she was slightly disappointed to not find any of her beloved Taiyaki amongst the selection however she did find some rolls that had the same red bean paste of her favourite dish as a filling and that, she supposed, would do for now, Picking those out, along with a sandwich, she opened up the food and began eating. She did feel a little bad for eating so little when Naruto had clearly spent a good amount of money on the pile of food but she was on a diet and needed to watch her figure.

Naruto, however, was far less reserved as he picked out a good quantity of food smiling at Ino as he dug in, eating with more manners than the other blonde had expected of the boy, "So Ino, what's your favourite flower?" he asked as he ate

Ino was quite surprised by the honest sincerity in his voice, he seemed honestly curious, like he really did want to know about her rather than just attempting to make conversation. Yet somehow, on another level, she was unsurprised by this some, small, part of her felt almost insulted that she'd thought so little of Naruto. "I guess the Blue Dawn Flower." she answered after a moment of thought

"What does it look like?" Naruto prompted curious, he'd never heard of such a flower but took a mental note to keep an eye out for one

"They have big flowers, bright blue, almost violet in colour. The blue background is split into five sections by lines of purple that radiate out from the centre." Ino explained with a small smile "They look so pretty. Especially in groups."

Naruto nodded with a small chuckle "Wow, you know a lot about flowers don't you. I've never even heard of that flower." he admitted

Ino blushed faintly under his praise, sure she'd been praised before, by boys a lot prettier, at least in her opinion, than Naruto too, but Naruto's praise held such sincerity in really struck her, and being praised for her knowledge of flowers outside of work or her parents was definitely new to her, most of the praise had been, predictably, very physical in nature "Thanks." she smiled warmly finding herself scooting closer to Naruto, resting her head on his shoulder this time the enjoyment of his closeness seemed somehow more her own than it had before.

* * *

Sorry for the long wait I was on holiday, don't think I'm backsliding I hope not to stop writing for very long periods of time again =p In case your wondering, yes the Blue Dawn Flower is a real flower, feel free to google it to get a good image of one.


	49. Chapter 49

The moments ticked by as she rested against Naruto, nibbling at the rolls as her eyes ran over the wonderful array of wildflowers that filled this clearing, though she found her gaze drawn back to the blonde at her side simultaneously surprised by how quiet and clam he was being in this moment whilst that odd shadowy side of her that'd recently taken root was whispering that this was normal, expected, right. Her brow creased for a moment as she opened her mouth to speak up, wanting to ask about the proverbial elephant in the room of those memories she had and the Kyuubi held within the boy she was leaning against. Her memories of the night before were blurry, indistinct, she'd had enough training to recognise that a low level block had been placed on her mind, probably by her father, and that helped dull the feelings she got from those stolen moments but it wasn't stopping her curiosity or pity for the poor boy from running rampant.

Had any of their classmates seen them in those few moments no doubt they would have been shocked to see two of the most well known loud-mouthed members of their class so quiet. Naruto simply because he was enjoying the moment and silently puzzling his way through how he felt for Ino, inside his head Kyuubi was watching with one eye, trying to push him into developing some kind of feelings for the girl, simply because it was easier than having to hunt another acceptable human down, whilst Ino was working out how to breach such a difficult subject with the boy, struggling with her own odd impulses and desires, ones she was fairly sure hadn't been their before last night. That both of them were polishing off their meals probably helped too.

The peace, however, was not to last and after only a few moments Ino finally found her voice "So, how'd you find this place?" she asked, coward she thought bitterly as she found herself unable to ask the question she really wanted an answer to.

Naruto let of a soft chuckle, his food polished off one hand started to come up hovering behind Ino, he wanted to drape it over her shoulders but although she was leaning against him he was still weary, perhaps overly so, of doing something that would annoy her "Well it's not really that interesting." he admitted "I train out in these woods pretty often" or at least he had started doing so since Kyuubi-chan had upped his training routine "And I stumbled across it whilst practising branch running."

Ino had spotted his hovering hand, a tiny smile pulling at her lips as she awaited the touch. Take that Hinata! This was their first date and he already wanted to cuddle! She'd probably even get a kiss outta him if she went for it! And it'd taken the little princess two whole months to get this far. Ha. It just showed how much prettier and more attractive she was. She would have likely been a little more embarrassed about the closeness had she not been working on a potent mixture of inherited comfort from Kyuubi and the strong desire to outdo Hinata and prove her own feminine superiority. However she quickly grew tired of waiting for the boy to make his move, listening to his speech her own delicate hand shot out and she wordlessly pulled his hand down into place, shooting him a grin and relishing the mix of surprise, embarrassment, and joy on the boy's face. No doubt he;d thought he blind to what that arm had been doing, that in itself was almost insulting she _was_ a ninja after all. "Training branch running?" she asked, a lone blonde eyebrow raising "How do you do that, I thought it was a Chûnin skill?" Indeed this was true Konoha branch running was a skill exclusively taught to Chûnin and up, basic movement in the tree canopy was something most genin picked up but with the heavily forested terrain of Fire Country Konoha ninja had developed many secret techniques and tricks for moving from tree to tree that made forest fighting their domain. These didn't stay secret by teaching them to every fresh genin the moment they stepped out of the academy.

"Ok you got me." Naruto's free hand went to rub the back of his head bashfully, an easily visible tick that Kyuubi knew she needed to remove before Naruto was required to lie on missions but found too cute to bring herself to touch. The flush on his cheeks from being caught in his earlier indecision faded as his tone was filled with the usual enthusiasm the boy had for his training "It's not really proper branch running." he smiled at her "But! Just because no-ones gonna teach me all those cool secrets doesn't mean I can't try to find them myself." he beamed eagerly "I'm getting pretty good too." He was almost as fast in the trees as he was on foot, the straighter path compensating for the fact he needed to go slower to avoid slipping and falling, though really it was just another form of endurance and reaction training imposed by his beautiful vixen he did entertain the thought of discovering some of the patented Konoha branch walking secrets on his own.

Ino felt a surge of awe for the boy once more, she'd trained hard, once, back when she was young and had only just been introduced to her family techniques, they'd been her singular focus for almost a year, and it was clear to her that such enthusiasm had never faded from Naruto, it took a special person to remain as dedicated to something as the day they picked it up years down the line. Strangely her awe for his dedication to being a ninja was also accompanied by some strange.. pride? Not the pride of having a good boyfriend either, it was more maternal, though with a definite hint of longing lust and love. The strange sensation momentarily robbed her of the ability to speak, her cheeks dusting a soft pink as the alien desire pulsed through her veins. "It seems you really push yourself." she spoked softly, voicing her admiration for that fact once she felt she could trust her voice again.

"Of course!" he chirped, as if there wasn't any other way of thinking about it, "There isn't any point in doing something if you're gonna do it half assed." it was perhaps a little crudely worded but it was one of Naruto's unofficial creeds, he gave his all to everything he cared about, it was only those things he was forced to do that got done slowly, or with a lack of motivation.

"Of course." Ino repeated softly, moving away from Naruto and looking at the floor, her softer blue eyes refusing to meet Naruto's sapphire blue eyes, for a moment she found herself questioning her own right to be a shinobi, she trained only the barest amount and focused on her figure, compared to someone like Naruto... did she really deserve that headband? However she quickly bounced back from the moment of introspection, Naruto was the exception not the rule, he'd be great because he worked so hard, she was sure.. wasn't she? But that didn't make her own work less significant, she'd earnt her headband like anyone else in her class who'd gotten one!

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, frowning softly as Ino pulled herself from his arm and averted her gaze, he poured over his words looking for something that could have been misinterpreted but found none. As was fast becoming a bad habit his first instinct when faced with such problems was to go ask Kyuubi but he knew the woman wasn't going to be listening in, she'd told him before she only paid the barest attention to his dates to give him and the other girl some privacy so obviously she'd likely have less of a clue than he did.

A little surprised that Naruto, dense-as-concrete Naruto, had realised what her actions had meant Ino nevertheless recovered quickly, by this point in the day she was becoming rapidly used to seeing her old image on Naruto unravelling before her eyes, the fact that she already, somehow, knew that he'd pick up on it also helped quash her surprise "It's nothing." she poke easily "Just thinking about how hard you train." she wasn't sure why she had shared her doubt with the boy, but since this date had started she'd felt safe, welcomed, even right with him and when those shadowy half memories whispered not to try and lie to the blonde boy she'd listened without really processing it.

Naruto grinned proudly, Kyuubi-chan worked him hard but he could feel the results and was proud of his skills as he saw them increasing, in his eyes it was still too slow, he was still too weak, but even so feeling himself getting stronger he found it hard not to take pride in that "Heh." he rubbed under his nose and gave Ino a thumbs up, only a glinting toothy grin away from mimicking a certain spandexed taijutsu user, "It takes a lot of work to be this awesome Ino-chan!" he chuckled "Though if you want I'm sure me and Hinata-chan would be happy to let you join us." he continued almost bouncing in place at the thought of having another sparring partner.

"Hinata trains with you?!" Ino spluttered, sure the girl had improved, she'd seen the difference in their genin exams when she'd been sparring and in the weapon test but she had no idea the timid girl had enough energy to keep up with her blonde boyfriend. She couldn't even imagine beginning to go toe to toe with Naruto-kun on that particular front.

"Mmmhmmm" Naruto nodded clearly both comfortable and happy with the conversation topic, his eyes dancing with joy and his body holding a certain energy that only seemed to manifest itself when the boy was truly engaged, unlike the rest of his seemingly boundless wellspring this energy was calmer, more focused, but certainly no less powerful for that "She trains with me for a few hours three days a week unless her _family_ keeps her busy." his bitter, angry, tone told of how he felt about the Hyuuga clan in general, aside from Hinata he had yet to meet even one of those stuck up bastards that he hadn't immediately wanted to curb stomp and honestly since getting Kyuubi-chan and Hinata-chan he'd found it harder and harder to ignore those who were insulting him and putting him down. On a very basic level having people who he knew loved him for him was starting to unravel the ideal Konoha had long since beaten, literally, into him that the hatred was his fault, that he deserved it. Even if he wasn't aware of it quite yet part of him had awoken that was questioning this, maybe... maybe it was their fault, it was their problem, not his. Maybe, just maybe, he didn't have to take it.

* * *

Hey there, finally got around to continuing this story too =p I was honestly surprised how many words I had to add to my dictonary to get OpenOffice from screaming at me and covering this story with red wiggly lines hehe, sorry this chappy is a little short too but with any luck the first lemon should be making it's appearance soon, though it depends on how I end up playing with Naruto's current lack of preparedness for serious physical affection. To try and make up for the lack of cotent I'm putting something here that might be of interest to you; a history of the development of Youki, at least how I see it as having happened. The whole history isn't here but it'll be a first part and if there's enough interest I'll drag the rest out of my Jutsu library/bloodlines/other document and put it here ^^

**History of Chakra/Youki/Demons**

Since the world was first created is has possessed a great energy, this energy is present in all living things and in all things capable of sustaining life, from the seas to the dirt to the very air itself. In modern times those precious handful who can sense it call this Natural Energy, however it is the Demons who were the first race to name it and they have a different name for this all prevalent substance Mana, or Mako. No-one is sure where it came from, even the Demons are unsure as to the origins but it is clear that Natural Energy is at it's most abundant in places where life teems, Forests, Jungles, Rich Pastures, whilst too few humans can sense the energy for any attention to be devoted to it's study Demons have spent aeons studying it and even their brightest academics are unsure if Natural Energy begets life or life begets Energy, studies have shown both of these to be true in different circumstances and the relationship is poorly understood beyond that most simple of tenants. Where there is life there is also Natural Energy.

Natural Energy is rigid, hard to move and control and incredibly stable compared to chakra and youki. It is composed of all four base elements; wind, fire, water, and earth, in perfect balance but is too stable for any one of these elements to be split away from the other by any reasonable amount of energy. Hence the fact there is no naturally occurring elemental Natural Energy and no known techniques that use it, even the Juubi, the supposed pinnacle of Demon evolution lacks the energy necessary to split apart Natural Energy in such a fashion. These properties were what would eventually push Natural Energy to mutate in Youki.

In ancient history, back when the very first life began to evolve no being had the capability to sense, or bend this energy at all. Eventually, inevitably, it happened, the first creature evolved the ability to utilise it's own Natural Energy. However because of it's stability Natural Energy was and is incredibly difficult to manipulate in such a fashion, borrowing a comparison from chemistry Natural Energy could be considered like a Noble Gas; catalysts or high energy inputs are needed before it will do anything at all. The first manipulations were simple, merely radiating Natural Energy in a crude form of radar that allowed them to sense other sources of Natural Energy. Of course this ability to sense predators, or prey, gave the species a massive advantage and over the next few millennia an arms race took place. Slowly the forms of Natural Energy manipulation grew more complex, more powerful, this was made possible by the specific Natural Energy within these creatures becoming more volatile, more easily moulded and formed, it was no longer true Natural Energy but was slowly becoming Youki.

This in-between energy was just as strong as Natural Energy but easier to manipulate meaning the creatures using it could put more into their burgeoning powers. Thus those with the new, more volatile, energy easily overwhelmed their opposition stuck with true Natural Energy, their abilities more precise, less tiring, and simply stronger. So it was that true, organic, Natural Energy manipulation died out, not becoming extinct but being so restricted as to be limited to but a handful of species where before it had ruled. As the energy utilised by the proto-demons continued to destabilise it soon hit a particular threshold and sparked a storm of rapid evolution. Over the next few thousand years hundreds of species would rise and die, what had sparked this sudden explosion of species? Simply that the Natural Energy had finally become unstable enough to be split into it's base elements and for the first time creatures had access to abilities that might be recognised as jutsu by modern shinobi. Birds utilised win energy to fly longer and higher, small insects could stun predators with blasts of fire, predators could create seismic waves to trip fleeing prey. It was brutal, fast, and it was from this rapid evolution that the first fusion elements were born, with Natural Energy no longer in balance elements could be combined in ways never before seen, powers of Ice, Lightning, Blood, even Crystal popped up, most proved unviable, too expensive energy wise, but some persisted more strongly than others. It was the success of these mutations in this period of evolution that would later determine the scarcity of combined elements bloodlines in humans millions of years down the line. But the Energy being used by these creatures as the evolution began to slow it's frantic pace was something almost familiar to demons, and Humans, of our modern era, though not exactly Youki, the energy was remarkably close to what modern demons use.


	50. Chapter 50

His tone cued another raised eyebrow from Ino, she wasn't particularly fond of the Hyuuga herself, finding them more than a little snobbish, but Naruto's tone had almost been hateful and she really hadn't thought the cheery blonde capable of such dark emotion towards someone. "A few hours?" she questioned, interested by his apparent grudge with Hinata's family but she'd press him for that later; when it wouldn't ruin her chances of beating Hinata and claiming the boy for herself.

"Yeah." he agreed easily, chuckling, "You wouldn't believe how hard it was to get her to agree at first." he looked up at the sky reminiscing about the past "I almost had to drag her out and she kept saying it would be a waste of my time." his gaze darkened, bright sapphire becoming stormy for a moment; he detested what her father and her clan had done to Hinata, they'd perverted his every idea of family and stomped all over what Naruto, as an orphan, held as sacrosanct, obviously they hadn't ever thought about Naruto whilst they did it but he refused to allow such things to stand, he'd find some way to free Hinata of her family or change their mind.

Once more that darkness had flashed through Naruto's gaze and Ino's curiosity surged up "You really don't like the Hyuuga do you?" she inquired softly, it might not have been worded as such but her tone made it into a clear; why?

Naruto felt a momentary urge to tell Ino exactly why he didn't like them, the bruises he'd seen on Hinata, her sobbing retelling of things her father had told her, how hard he'd had to work to rebuild even some of her self-worth. But all of these things had been told to him in confidence and even if Hinata had never actually made him promise to tell he knew her well enough that he knew she'd hate for him to spread it around "It's private Ino, sorry." he replied after a few moments pause, giving her an apologetic smile "But I do want to tell you. Maybe if you join me and Hinata you'll find out, ok?" he offered.

Naruto's answer, or really how he avoided it, told Ino all she needed to know; whilst Hinata had obviously managed to beat some tact and manners into the boy he still wasn't exactly good at keeping secrets, the Hyuuga clan obviously had done something to Hinata, it sort of made sense now she thought about it, nobody could be that painfully shy and withdrawn for no reason. She wasn't stupid either and her clan training required some psychological understanding her mind whirling with possibilities, was she beaten, degraded, even abused sexually? All of these were possible and even if she didn't really like the girl she felt a pang of pity and a modicum of Naruto's hatred, if that was the case she could certainly understand his anger... it was at that point Naruto's last sentence brought her thought process to a screeching stop, her mouth open and closing soundlessly "Join you?" she asked "What do you mean? Training?" she chuckled to herself as she calmed, he almost certainly meant training, the boy was obsessed with it after all, gotta get your mind out of the gutter girl, Hinata-san isn't going to allow it even if Naruto was the type.

Naruto chuckled nervously, he really had been meaning to explain about the CRA to Ino in a slightly more delicate fashion but it seemed his mouth had differing ideas to his brain and had just allowed that to blurt out."That too." he admitted awkwardly pausing again as he frantically attempted to work out how best to tell Ino without stumbling over his words,

"Too?!" Ino practically screeched, her idea of Naruto was that he was a bit thick but ultimately harmless and his work ethic might allow him to go far, sure Kyuubi's memories had helped her overlook some of Naruto's other traits and enhanced her perceptions of the good ones but Kyuubi hadn't the time to fully reprogram the girl's perceptions nor would she have done so, if simply because Naruto would have abhorred the idea, but the concept that Naruto was going for a harem stunned Ino, put under this lens it made sense why he'd gone after Hinata, her lack of backbone would make it easier to push his perverted scheme through.

That tone never meant good things in Naruto's book and he threw up his hands in surrender "It's not me! It's not my idea!" she protested violently, his gaze locked onto her disgusted one as he implored her to see the truth in his words.

Ino snorted angrily "Right." she snapped, shaking her head, blonde hair shifting at the movement, if anything her gaze hardened further, the bastard would try and shift the blame onto Hinata?! She was half tempted to storm away right now before he could say anything more to try and defend his inexcusable behaviour, innocence only counted for so much and certainly didn't forgive this! "I suppose it was Hinata's idea then?" she hissed, radiating some minor KI, though Naruto barely registered it on his radar it might have been enough to worry other genin, although Sasuke likely would have resisted it too having shared the dubious honour, with Naruto, of being subjected to KI on entirely different levels.

"No!" Naruto snapped "Of course not!" the idea that his sweet Hinata could think like that clearly defended Naruto, who, as usual, refused to hear anything bad about his precious people. He opened his mouth to explain but Ino cut him off as she pushed herself right into his face, spittle spraying against him as their screaming match intensified, their matching blue eyes shimmering with anger, and in Naruto's case frustration, their noses almost touching.

"So if you didn't think it up and Hinata didn't who the hell did?! Kyuubi! Or did it come out of the aether?!" she practically sneered her suggestions, though the volume hadn't dropped at all and Naruto had been forced to pull the chakra back out of his ears to avoid being deafened.

Both Naruto and Kyuubi flinched at her accusation, both of them knowing that it had indeed been the ancient Kitsune who had brought up and convinced Naruto it was ok to have a small harem, though Kyuubi herself also felt a pang of guilt at having manipulated events to bring Naruto under the CRA, her plan had gone off flawlessly except she'd obviously missed the fine print of the law she was calling upon leading to the current situation. Of course despite the truth in Ino's shouting Naruto wasn't quite stupid enough to admit it, both he and Kyuubi knew, or could imagine, what would happen if word got around that they could communicate and even their best case scenarios never went well for them. "No!" he snapped "Just listen to me!" the frustration was clear in his voice as he brought a hand up and jabbed a thumb back pointing to his eyes as he flashed the illusion activating his supposed Gijime "See this?! Because of my eyes the damn old man decided to drop me into the CRA." he shouted these facts at Ino, frustration still obvious in his voice, falling back to his old nickname for Sarutobi out of force of habit.

Ino went strangely silent, comprehension blooming in her eyes, she knew of the CRA, she'd found the old law a year or so ago whilst trying to mend bridges with Sakura, after all if they shared Sasuke there would be no need to fight, she didn't know the specifics but she did know it allowed, required, a person to have multiple spouses "I see." she muttered softly, shrinking in on herself as she suddenly felt incredibly ashamed of ever having doubted Naruto-kun, he'd been nothing but nice to her and she'd.. she'd automatically assumed the worst and not let him explain, in retrospect it seemed obvious but Naruto rarely used his eyes so whilst most of his class knew _of_ the strange new doujutsu it was never a centre of attention like the Sharingan or Byakugan "I'm sorry Naruto-kun." she mumbled, her apology so soft as to be inaudible "I should have just listened." her sudden meekness was a little out of character but Kyuubi's memories had included a good portion of the weight of guilt she felt for Naruto's condition and those phantom sensations had chosen to throw their weight behind her own, natural, guilt.

For a moment Naruto faltered, not having expected this sort of reaction from Ino, he'd just expected to be hit and told to say so sooner, or maybe a small apology before moving on "Ah, it's ok." he said, funnelling his chakra back into his ears again now everything had quieted down, the world had seemed strangely muted without it but he guessed he was just too used to having it enhanced "You didn't know and I could have found a better way to tell you." he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head as he held his hand out "Still friends?"

Bouncing back from the unexpected tide of guilt Ino nodded and smiled back "You could have, but really I shouldn't have expected tact from you of all people anyway." she giggled faintly as she reached out and grabbed his hand "Friends, yeah." she agreed, even though she never really recalled officially befriending the boy in the first place, pulling his forward with a sudden tug she wrapped an arm around him as the sudden impulse had Naruto falling forward into her hug "I'm not sure I like this CRA business but for now I'm happy to date you." she offered, her mind having rebooted itself was going back to her scheming, she wasn't going to share with that little princess, Naruto-kun was a catch but Sasuke-kun was the only boy she would even consider worth having if she had to share. Even so if she didn't have to break them up it just made her job easier, she could date him for a bit and without the CRA going public her friends would just see her and Naruto-kun, it would prove she was the best, yes this would work just fine.

Pouting at her jab Naruto blushed softly at the unexpected hug, wrapping his own arms around the thin blonde girl and squeezing her gently "Thanks, you have no idea how worried I was that you'd run for the hills the moment I told you about this." he confided in her softly before pulling back and stretching, grunting as his spine cracked softly, a more serene smile on his face now one of his burdens had been lifted, he still needed to work out how to tell Hinata-chan about Kyuubi-chan, she was being so mean to Kyuubi-chan and he wouldn't let the two most important girls in his life insult each other, even if it was only one way right now.

Ino felt a soft pang of guilt for using in him as she heard his sincere thanks but quickly shook it off, he was just another boy to her... no matter what her subconscious seemed to whisper, and really he was spending a lot of time with _the_ Ino Yamanaka that should be payback enough for using him. She didn't really have any answer to his kind words so she chose to change the subject "Well I didn't run when I saw the Kyuubi now did I? Why would this push me away if I..she didn't?" her memories were blurry but she had a distinct idea that the Kyuubi was a girl not an it, there was something more there but she couldn't recall it well, something about the relationship between the beast and Naruto, she could remember her surprise and fear but nothing more, it was frustrating, the answer was on the tip of her mind, she was sure.

That response sobered Naruto considerably, the grin fading from his face, she remembered Kyuubi-chan?! Dammit! 'Kyuubi-chan, she remembers about you!' he called inwards 'And she heard us talk didn't she?' his panic rose even as he kept a stony poker face "Ah that's right you know about her don't you." he replied softly, he'd honestly thought she'd forgotten about her, about her experiences in his mindscape.

'I'm listening.' Kyuubi spoke up, voice soft and soothing; she'd expected the trauma from the memory fragments to suppress the memory of her journey but she'd obviously underestimated the mental fortitude of the girl, probably her training had helped her cope, 'She remembers that I was there, but it doesn't look like she can remember anything else, don't panic Naruto-kun, our secret is still safe.' she assured him softly, after all if Ino remembered that she loved Naruto-kun she would be asked some very different questions, if she didn't run screaming to the Hokage or her father.

Ino nodded softly "Mmm" her brow creased in concentration but she hissed in pain when her focused rewarded her with a small headache, her mind pressing against her father's barrier and bouncing back, preventing her from recalling anything with any more clarity, if she wanted clear access to those memories she'd need to get good enough to undo her father's work, or have him, or someone else, undo them for her. "I do, she was.. terrifying and she showed me.. things, your life... was that real?" she spoke slowly, emotion evident in each word as she shivered, prickles of phantom pain running through her; things she called what she saw because voicing what had been done almost seemed like a curse, a taboo, to her.

Naruto nodded sadly and looked aside "Yeah, you got some of the worse ones, I'm sorry about that, I didn't intend for anything like that to happen." he apologized softly on Kyuubi's behalf, Kyuubi, of course, wasn't apologetic in the slightest, her methods were crude and she felt a little ashamed of the shoddy work she'd done, but she felt nothing for using or damaging any human other than Naruto. Though she was being careful not to harm anyone Naruto cared about either because that'd make the boy sad.

"Some of?" she echoed, hand coming up to cover her mouth, there were worse?! She wretched for a moment as her body shivered visibly, her lunch threatening to come back up but she fought that urge back, his apology wasn't needed or warranted, it was Kyuubi that had given her the memories not Naruto-kun "How?" she asked softly "How do you go on?" she only had second hand, and blocked, memories but she still woke up with nightmares most nights now, luckily her father knew a good genjutsu to put someone to sleep so she hadn't lost too much sleep, but she couldn't even fathom how the boy before her functioned with such trauma.

Naruto offered a small, sad, smile "I just do, there's no trick to it." he replied honestly "I used to have nightmares every night but since I met... my girlfriend" that was Kyuubi, not Hinata, Hinata had done him a world of good but it was his Kitsune girl that guarded his mind in her seal as he slept, "they've thankfully stopped." he smiled fondly and sent a thanks Kyuubi's way though the demon didn't feel she deserved it, she was merely preventing some of the damage she'd caused after all "But if I just laid down and died I'd be giving them what they wanted.." he chuckled bitterly, eyes dark, "there was a time were that was all that kept me going, living just to spite them, to show them I _could_. But now, now I have something to aim for, a real goal, real people how would care if I went away, now I have those to hold me up, to pull me out of my past, I'll be fine, I _am_ fine." his speech was a lot more eloquent than he'd really intended but he spent many an hour considering his lot in life before he'd met Kyuubi-chan and everything had changed. His tone had gone from soft and melancholy to firm and confident, rising up from his past to become more like the mask he wore, his indomitable will shining all the brighter now it was rising from the mire of the villagers' hate.


	51. Chapter 51

Ino fell silent as Naruto's impassioned speech hung heavy in the air, she had no idea how to respond to that; how _could_ she respond to that? She'd always been aware, at least on some level, that she lived a rather sheltered life. Oh she had problems, things she was quite willing to moan and complain about. But there was a difference between knowing this fact and having it forced down your throat, Naruto, Naruto's life, had already had some affects on the outgoing girl; her own problems hadn't seemed as major, as pressing, as they once had and she'd found it hard to get worked up over things that had once made her mad; the changes were slight and had had little time to truly express themselves but they were indeed there, worming their way into her mind, her personality.

Inside her seal Kyuubi was looking up having heard Naruto's speech her mind had been set racing, was that what he truly thought, what he really felt? She sincerely hoped it was, since that horrifying discovery that he'd been able to block or fool their emotional bond somehow she'd been frantically searching for some proof that what she'd done wasn't destroying the real Naruto, the one hidden beneath all those masks, the true boy she loved. "Naruto-kun" she spoke softly to herself, despite herself, despite the darkness his past was mired in she could hear his hope, his will, in his words shining brightly and that gave her hope for the future, hope that she, that Naruto, would be fine. She knew Naruto didn't like her listening in on his dates, even if he was allowing it because of Ino's knowledge of their relationship but even so she usually kept an ear open for titbits like this and when she got them she was glad for this policy.

As the silence dragged out Naruto chuckled nervously, he hadn't expected anything quite like that speech to come forth; he'd honestly planned on stopping after that first sentence, he lived because he did. That was all there was to it in his eyes, all anyone else needed to know. But these days, since Hinata and Kyuubi had both declared and shown their love for the boy he'd been finding it harder and harder to keep his usual mask up. "But it's ok." he assured her softly "If the memories just get to much, just think of your parents, your friends." he offered a crooked smile, at least she _had_ parents to support her, she _had_ friends to lean on Naruto had only just recently gained any of that however he brushed the impotent jealousy aside before it could hope to take route, it wasn't becoming of him; that way lay the Uchiha. Before it had been all too easy to bring up his defences and hide any true feelings behind his mask of cheer and impish mischief, however having people who gave him the attention and recognition his young mind had been crying out for and having them do so without the need of such masks, indeed using them seemed to make his precious people sad for some reason, had put a few small fractures in his false persona. Just as he was finding it harder and harder to just shrug off the insults and degradation the villagers rained upon him he was finding his mask was cracking easier, his true self, his real thoughts and emotions slipping out with more regularity and less prompting. Whilst the thought of blaming his precious people for this had never even crossed his mind he was shocked and worried by this slowly deteriorating ability and vowed to practice once more, for the boy who lived behind a mask for so long to go out without one, to face the village bare like that was unthinkable.

Ino nodded softly, once more struggling to find her tongue; she'd never envisioned herself being the type to be struck speechless yet Naruto seemed to have an uncanny knack for doing just that. "I will." she agreed softly, finally finding the will, and ability, to speak up "Thanks." she offered the boy a small, grateful, smile. Her father had already given her some hints and tips on how to do deal with these stolen memories and her clan training had given her some other ideas but recommendations from the one who had actually lived with the original memories were far more relevant, in her mind, and Naruto-kun had worded it simply and easily not hiding behind all the psychology techno mumbo-jumbo her father favoured.

Shaking his head Naruto waved his hand dismissively "Don't." he denied her thanks with only a small, self deprecating, grin "It's my fault you have those memories in the first place, it's the least I could do." the boy was acting a little more like his usual self now but Ino still found this darker, more serious, side of the boy she thought she'd known fascinating.

Shaking her head softly Ino smiled back, trying to do her best to look supporting, she had no idea the boy had taken the blame on himself so fully, she'd heard his apologies before but she'd sort of figured them to just be for the sake of politeness, the same way you might apologize if a friend caught a cold off you or something similar "No, I should have listened to Daddy's warnings." her father had warned her once or twice during her training, and once more when he'd found out Naruto was in her class, not to use any of her clan techniques on the boy; the excuse he'd given evaded her but since she now knew the true reason behind his warnings she didn't feel too silly for having forgotten it.

Naruto merely smiled softly at Ino, not bothering to counter her argument, he'd had more than a handful of such arguments with Kyuubi-chan before and whilst he appreciated, and was happy for, their desire to make him feel better by shouldering the blame he knew he was guilty just as much as he was sure they did. "It's getting close to midday." he noted, leaning back in the grass to glance at the sky, the sun having risen above the lush canopy of Konoha's forests, it honestly surprised him how long they'd been out here. He didn't recall them doing much other than talking. Well time flew when you were with friends or whatever that old saying was. He didn't have training with Hinata today, her _clan_ felt it fit to monopolise her time with their stupid gentle fist practice that Naruto was secretly sure was about as biased as the academies own attempts at teaching him Taijutsu, one day he was going to sneak in and get a scroll for the gentle fist, if only to satisfy himself that Hinata was being taught the proper stances and not being set up to fail.

Ino followed Naruto's gaze, a delicate hand going up to shield her eyes from the glare of the midday sun, it was a lovely day the sky a wonderful blue with the odd white, fluffy, cloud lazily floating across the horizon but nothing that even looked capable of even thinking about rain, the sort of weather Shika-kun loved. "So it is." she agreed, turning her attention away from her genius childhood friend and back to the blonde boy who'd taken her on this date. Whilst she hadn't managed to pick up the ability to tell time from the sun since this morning she wasn't blind and the sun was nearly at the apex of it's arc so even she could tell it was about lunch-time "Why? Is that important?" she was curious why he brought up the time, they had a week to themselves, well more like five days now, before they got put on teams and she knew Naruto-kun was a orphan so it wasn't like he could have any appointments... she paused and pulled a small face as that thought floated across her mind, chastising herself for thinking in such a way. Even if it had been true she shouldn't assume such things, if nothing else Naruto had shown her hidden depths of his personality today, depths she would enjoy plumbing that was for sure.

"I have to start my training soon." Naruto replied with a grin, his wall-walking ability was going well and he'd graduated to a slightly more advanced version where he moved himself along the ground by the chakra without moving his feet. Kyuubi-chan had come up with it after a while of observing him climb trees, on paper it sounded simple, you stuck your toes, and just your toes, to the floor then pushed the patch of chakra back along your feet to propel you forward. You moved too slow for the ability to be of any combat use, or at least so far Naruto's mind hadn't been able to work out a real use for it, but it allowed him to practice moving chakra around and shifting his output in a way tree climbing didn't, whilst climbing was very much an on/off switch the crawling technique, as Kyuubi had _unoriginally_ christened her method, was much more fluid and dynamic, something Naruto was having a little trouble getting down.

Ino's eyes widened "But we're on break" she protested, even Naruto must take a break sometime and this was a holiday. She'd know his work ethic was insane but even so she'd expected him to be relaxing.

Naruto chuckled "And? That just means I have even more time to work on getting stronger!" he exclaimed, beaming happily as their conversation came back to topics he was much more comfortable, and enthusiastic, about.

Ino groaned, dragging her palm over her face as she shook her head, "Why am I not surprised." she lamented softly "Don't you ever stop and take a break?"

Naruto chuckled "I wouldn't if I could get away with it." he admitted without any hint of shame or restraint, as if that were a perfectly normal response "But generally something forces me to stop." be it biology demanding food, or sleep, or Kyuubi-chan demanding he pause before he does permanent damage to his muscles or chakra system or taking Hinata-chan on a date. Not that he minded stopping for dates or to spend time with Hinata or Kyuubi but he was well aware of how weak he was and how little he could do to protect his precious people, he couldn't even free Kyuubi-chan! And that, more than anything else drove his near frantic training.

Ino gaped "Seriously?!" once more all she could do was shake her head "I swear I have no idea what goes on in that head of yours Naruto-kun." she responded lightly, cringing and massaging her forehead as a small pain flitted across it, clearly there was a memory there that she wasn't allowed to recall, that her father had locked away.

Naruto had been about to respond when he saw her wince, as close together as they were all he had to do was lean forward a bit to wrap and arm around her, his other hand cautiously coming up as he placed it on her forehead "Ino-chan?" he asked softly, worry dripping from his tone, "You ok? What's wrong?"

Thankfully her father was an expert at his art and the barrier he used was the least obtrusive that would get the job done so the pain passed in a mere moment "I'm ok." she assured him, offering him a thankful smile for his worry "Just a headache is all." she lied smoothly.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he observed his fellow blonde carefully for a few seconds, trying to discern how injured she really was, before his brow creased into a soft frown "Is that because I dragged you out of the hospital?" he asked, worry slipping into his tone.

Warmth not entirely her own blossomed in Ino's chest as she smiled and shook her head, Naruto-kun really did worry about and care for her. It never failed to make her heart beat faster... never failed? She gave pause as once more a thought that somehow wasn't quite her own flitted through her mind. How often had Naruto been worried about her? Certainly not before today, or if he had she didn't remember it. So why did that shadowy voice seem convinced they'd been in a relationship for a while? It was so infuriatingly confusing! Her annoyed, internal, rant was cut off before she could get into full swing as Naruto's concerned voice cut across it "Ino?"

The girl blinked and shook her head again, she didn't realise just how long she'd fallen silent, "Sorry." she smiled "No, it's not because of that, they wouldn't have let me check out otherwise." she reasoned easily.

Naruto, however, wasn't that convinced, the hospital staff had never really liked him and he generally refused to stay in his bed for any length of time. It was possible, and probable, that they'd let him take Ino-chan out of her room simply to avoid having to argue with him over it "Well." he scratched the back of his head, not really willing to voice his concerns to the girl before him, "Anyway," he continued after a pause "since you're not feeling well and I need to train shall I walk you home, or back to the hospital?" he fixed her with another appraising look as he tried to asses her health with his grand total of zero hours of medical training and practice.

Ino hummed softly, she could understand his logic, though honestly she was happy to lounge around in this clearing for a bit longer, oh gods she was becoming Shika-kun! "Home." she eventually answered with a small smile, after all that would take her through the town centre and she'd have more chances to show off that she was dating him to her peers, it would also let her spend more time with her Naruto-kun. A tiny frown flashed across her face for a moment but Naruto assumed it to be her coping with her supposed headache.

"Ok then." he grinned as he pushed himself upright with a tiny grunt, his legs a little unresponsive after sitting for so long "Ummm where do you live?" he asked, he knew where her family's flower shop was, or knew the rough area, but he didn't know if there was a Yamanaka clan compound like the Hyuuga had, though he'd never heard of one, they were ninja so it could have been hidden, his eyes sparkled as his imagination ran away with all the cool things Mind-walker-san might have been able to do to hide his home, he was sure it was awesome!

"Ah, I live above our flower shop." she responded with a smile, climbing to her feet rather more delicately than Naruto had, but then she _was_ wearing a dress and by that age she, like every other girl, had learnt how to get up or sit down without giving anyone watching a free show. She turned and held out her hand only to realise Naruto had zoned out, his eyes had a far away look in them and a stupid grin spread across his face, pouting and frowning she stomped her feet "Naruto!" she demanded, curious what he was thinking of but knowing him well enough that she was sure it was nonsense.

Blinking "Ah! Sorry Ino-chan!" he apologized as she broke him out of his musing, noticing her extended hand he blushed faintly as his hand went out and his fingers slipped between hers, taking her delicate hand in his own larger one; he'd of thought that holding hands with Hinata-chan and Kyuubi-chan would have desensitized him to it a little however with a different girl it seemed he lost some of his hard earnt experience. "Ummm. What did you say? I missed it." he chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head as he gave her an apologetic grin

"Honestly." Ino sighed and shook her head, unable to keep a grin from tugging at her lips, there was the Naruto she knew and lo.. liked! Liked! Definitely liked and _nothing_ more! She cursed whatever stupid thing was changing her thoughts, maybe it was her subconscious or some side affect from her Daddy's sealing? She'd ask him later. "I said that I live in my family shop." she squeezed his hand gently as she turned, her own cheeks a little warmed from the contact of their hands but the outgoing girl much, much, more used to close contact and social interaction than the boy she'd set her sights on.

Visibly deflating as his ideas about her super-cool secret ninja house were popped he nodded glumly "Ok then, I know that place." he replied, his disappointed tone earning him a raised eyebrow from Ino but he waved it off, not feeling like explaining his thought process, anyway he was sure she'd just mock him for it. Even if his idea had been super-cool! Maybe he'd build a house like that for himself some day.. if he ever had the money. Oh! He'd need to talk to Hinata-chan and Kyuubi-chan too to see what they wanted for their super-house! And maybe Ino-chan's input would be helpful? "Hey, Ino-chan?" he spoke up breaking the lingering silence that had enshrouded the pair as he idly picked his way back through the forest towards the village "What would you want in your perfect house?"

Ino blinked in confusion, giggling softly "What brought this up?" she asked, tilting her head, her blue eyes boring into the back of Naruto's head as if she could extract the information that way, and with her clan that might not have been a total impossibility.

"Just curious." Naruto replied smoothly; listening to her input as they wove their way back through the windy streets of the town, learning from their trip out Naruto worked to avoid any of the busier streets so they didn't get that many angry or condescending gazes.


	52. Chapter 52

The rest of the week passed in a blur for Naruto, his training having kicked into high gear now he wasn't required to 'waste' a few hours a day at the academy. He'd gotten much more used to keeping his senses constantly enhanced with chakra adding to the minor enhancement Kyuubi gave him anyway, he wouldn't be able to outperform a Inuzuka but he could give one at least something resembling a challenge. His chakra control, too, had risen nosing low Jōnin levels, although with Naruto's reserves in excess of Kage it appeared to most observers that he had merely low Chûnin control, he and Kyuubi since run through the meagre handful of techniques they knew and had taken to adapting those slightly to create something new to push his control just that little higher. Outside of training he'd spent some more time with Ino, seeing the blonde twice more over the week and much more time with Hinata, training with her most days, finally, though it went without saying, he and Kyuubi had a lot of time to themselves, the kitsune reminding her host and lover that now they were going out to take missions he'd definitely need to remember to use his Gijime. In fact she'd gone far enough to devote one entire training session to ensuring activating the illusion of a bloodline was almost automatic when he charged into combat, if he performed a technique he hadn't seen she wasn't foolish enough to believe his Jōnin instructor would overlook it.

* * *

Bouncing into the old classroom Naruto was walking on air, even the insults and looks that normally would puncture his good moods before they could take root bounced off him today, there was almost no need for his mask but it was firmly in place out of force of habit. This week had been great! He'd been a little suspicious of the former Sasuke fangirl at first but Ino-chan seemed to really liked him and she knew all this amazing stuff about flowers! He was keen to see if she knew anything practical, he'd seen some stuff about poisons and heard it mentioned in some lectures and they sounded really useful he also seemed to recall his favourite brand of itching powder was mostly herb based so if he could make his own? His eyes sparkled. Likewise Hinata-chan and Kyuubi-chan were too good for him and he revelled in every moment they spent together, Hinata had seemed a little down since his date with Ino for some reason so he'd redoubled his efforts to make her happy to make up for whatever was upsetting her. However what was, mostly, responsible for the spring in his step was the fact today he was getting his team, he feverantly wished to be with Hinata, but his mind was more on who would be his Jōnin teacher, whoever it was he'd get some more techniques! And maybe some jutsu! Kyuubi-chan had been annoyingly tight lipped with the few human jutsu she professed to know, and Naruto still couldn't produce clones in numbers less than dozens but he had practiced his henge, chakra strings, and kawarimi between his other chakra training attempts.

Spotting Hinata in her normal spot he grinned just a little wider, his eyes lighting up slightly, his smile no less ear splitting but less toothy, something the meek girl recognised as her crush's true smile. "Hey Hinata-chan!" he greeted, vaulting over some desks to cut a corner, the movement far more fluid and graceful than he had been capable of being before his training.

Blushing softly at his greeting and the smile he was sending her Hinata averted her gaze for a moment to compose herself a little "G..g..good morning Naruto-kun." she replied softly. The training had done the meek girl some good and slowly, but surely, her stutter was receding, likewise she was finding it easier and easier to talk to her boyfriend although it was doubtful his smiles and kisses would ever not make her face light up.

Watching Naruto approach the shy heir whispers and rumours spread around the class, the girls whose parents had prodded them to pursue Naruto muttering about why she got the blonde and how they were better and others still wondering why the skank was trying to steal him away from Ino when they'd _seen_ those two out on a few dates in the past few weeks, those girls sure that when the blonde heir turned up fireworks would fly and, though none of them admitted it, all looking forward to it. Thankfully with almost 60% of the class having failed to become genin the whispering and gossiping was significantly less prevalent than it had been.

Hinata quailed under the, angry, jealous, gazes of her piers. That little voice inside that Naruto had dedicated much time to developing just daring the hussies to make a move on _her_ man. She knew she had to share him in the CRA but she still didn't like that fact, she tolerated Ino and put on a smile only because she was sure if she asked Naruto would leave the other blonde in a heartbeat and since she knew he had no choice in the matter either.

A low growl rolled from Naruto's lips, his eyes narrowing as he spun to shout at the girls he'd heard one or two calling Hinata a hussy, amongst other things. Nobody. Nobody! Was allowed to talk about his precious people like that! Halting his walk up to his new seat, next to his girlfriend, he made to turn around when a delicate hand on his shoulder caught his attention "Hinata?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder to the young Hyuuga.

Shaking her head softly she smiled warmly, it always made her feel warm how readily and eagerly Naruto sprang to her defence. "Don't." she spoke softly, not really knowing what he was planning, a prank or insult, most likely but whatever he had in mind she was sure he'd get in trouble for it.

Naruto's fists clenched for a moment with the desire to make the others pay for insulting Hinata before he sighed and let them fall to his side, limp. "Ok." he agreed, reluctance written across his features and voice, "You're too kinda Hinata-chan." he murmured as he sank into his seat shooting her a grin and leaning over to peck her cheek

Cheeks reddening further from his kiss her face, for a moment, resembled her older blushes before the blonde jinchuuriki had sunk his claws into her. "Y...y..nar.. you're kind..kinder Naruto-kun." she replied stuttering back to full force as his kisses usually did to her

Naruto shook his head softly, whilst the boy easily and readily forgave slights against himself he was far less forgiving of those against his precious people. Kyuubi and Hinata had been slowly peeling away his willingness to forgive or forget personal slights too, Hinata perhaps unknowingly but Kyuubi was actively trying to mould Naruto into someone who would destroy his enemies and repay every slight in kind. "So what were you doing yesterday? I was expecting you to come and join me in training." they'd never made any agreement so his tone wasn't accusing, merely curious.

"Ah!" Hinata gasped, cutely in Naruto's opinion, averting her gaze a little "S..sorry Naruto-kun" she apologized "I spent th..the day with Han.. Hanabi-chan."

"Hanabi?" Naruto echoed softly, brow creasing in confusion for a moment "Ah! Right! Your sister, sorry." he chuckled embarrassed with himself for forgetting Hinata's sister's name.

Hinata shook her head softly forgiving Naruto instantly, she and Hanabi really didn't see eye-to-eye very often and rarely spent much time together, despite effort on her part. That meant she'd only really mentioned the girl to Naruto once or twice when she'd vented on the blonde boy. "Hey Naruto-kun." another voice chimed in causing the pair to look up, both of them knowing who it was.

"Ino-chan!" Naruto smiled as he waved "Morning." he seemed ignorant to the moment Hinata and Ino's eyes met, both girls frowning softly as lightning sparked between them for a moment.

"H..h...hello Ino-san." Hinata greeted, her quiet voice colder than it usually was, the classroom going silent as the students seemed to sense the tension every eye swivelling to watch the unfolding drama with badly hidden eagerness

"Hinata-chan." Ino replied softly her gaze slipping to Naruto as she moved up, an extra, seductive, swing to her hips to try and catch the boy's eyes. Kyuubi was better at it, having had years of practice, and her figure was much more full than Ino's, naturally. So whilst Naruto did enjoy the sight he wasn't struck dumb as many of the other nearby boys were, much to Ino's annoyance and Hinata's secret pleasure.

Since there were only two desks in each row she had to sit across the corridor from Naruto but she still shot him a smile "How was your weekend?" she asked as she smoothed out her dress

"Good." he replied chuckling "I got some good training done." he grinned as Ino shook her head softly

"Why am I not surprised." she sighed "Don't you do anything other than train?"

"Of course I do!" Naruto protested "I spend time with you and Hinata-chan." he claimed, ignoring the rather loud whispers his proclamation caused, his classmates wondering which one was his girlfriend whilst the boys, well most of them, grumbled at how lucky he was.

Hinata looked down at her lap, she understood that Naruto really had no other hobbies, the villagers wouldn't have allowed him to take up much else so this was all he had, it made her sad for him but at the same time galvanised her resolve to make sure he got to experience everything life had to offer. She wanted him happy and she was sure he needed more to his life than training. Meanwhile Ino just scrunched her nose "Just us? What about your other friends?" she knew Naruto was pretty much a loner in class, hanging out with Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji from time to time, but as an incredibly social person she just couldn't comprehend that outside of class he was by himself, he _must_ have _someone_!

Hinata shot Ino a warning look, this was dangerous ground for Naruto, she knew he was alone and in those unguarded moments she'd seen the shades of loneliness hanging around him still, it was one of the reasons she tried her best to train with him whenever she could. Naruto however had his mask in place and her question just made him laugh "Bah! I'm too awesome for anyone else to hang out with me! Besides they'd get me caught before I could set up my pranks."

The coldness of his past loneliness still hung heavy of Naruto but with his mask it was easy to hide, it was one of the emotions he hid best after all. However with Hinata, Kyuubi, and now Ino he didn't feel alone any more, though with Kyuubi he never really was. His smile warmed a little as he felt a warmth pulse through him, unsure how he knew but he just felt as if Kyuubi was trying to hug him 'Love you Kyuubi-chan.' he sent her

'I love you too Naruto-kun, you know I'm always here for you if you need me' she replied warmly having felt the spectre of loneliness she was happy that her mate wasn't feeling that any more.

Hinata was still in awe of Naruto's acting ability she knew him well, she even fancied that she knew the most about him from anyone in the village, but even she'd of believed him if she hadn't been sure it wasn't the truth. In some small way she even felt oddly pleased with the fact he was lying to Ino about this rather than being truthful like he was with her.

Ino meanwhile just blinked at the answer and sighed shaking her head but before she could press Naruto for more details on how he could function without a good circle of friends the door to the classroom opened up once more and Iruka walked into the room "Alright everyone!" he called out "Settle down!" normally it would take some effort, and maybe a minor genjutsu or two, to get himself heard over the class but with so many members missing he barely needed to shout at all, it was a wonderful feeling.

Slowly but surely the conversation in the room died down, the last few pockets of whispered talk remained but Iruka had been teaching for too long to believe he would ever manage to get utter silence so once the room was quiet enough for someone talking normally to be heard he allowed a small smile to flit across his face and launched into his speech. "Congratulations all of you, today you leave my class as shinobi of my village." he let his gaze sweep across his class meeting each of their eyes, he would miss them, he always did. "Today you become adults in the eyes of the village and our society, I hope we have given you the tools you need to succeed and excel in the world, and I know that if.." it was at this point Naruto turned off again and tuned the man out, he did sort of like Iruka-sensei, he'd never shown much discrimination against him, just a little at the start of the year that Naruto suspected was caused by gossip from his former teachers and his, by then well established, reputation as a prankster, but by god the man droned on. 'Kyuuuu-chan!' he whined mentally as he relaxed in his chair 'I'm bored! Entertain me.' he demanded like a petulant child, knowing full well that was what he was doing.

A sultry giggle replied to his acting ringing through his head and sending shivers down his spine 'Well' she purred 'I'm sure I can think of _something_ we could be doing to pass the time.' though she couldn't see it she was sure that Naruto's face was turning quite the adorable shade of red, this tone usually did that to him, and indeed it was Naruto able to keep his blush under some control but unable to prevent his cheeks from colouring at the sheer sexuality the fox demon could pour into her words.

'In class?!' he managed to sputter back, the idea of sex still embarrassing the boy immensely but with a perverted fox-girl living in his head he'd quickly had to grow used to her straight up seduction attempts. Still... in his classroom?! 'Besides I want our first time to be perfect.' he declared, Kyuubi had been, and still was, vocal about her wish to sleep with him and whilst Naruto possessed a normal, healthy, libido he was still adapting to even casual physical affection and that coupled with the normal fears that he'd be horrible at sex meant he was putting it off, though since Naruto had always been quick to adapt it was fast becoming more of the latter than the former.


	53. Chapter 53

Thanks to my beta for looking through this, I apologize to those who will see the double update but I was getting a lot of flak for it being badly formatted. Though really it was the first chapter that was properly done rather than having this site's stupid idea of double spacing between lines but whatever =3

* * *

Kyuubi wasn't quite the exhibitionist she was portraying herself as, but his reactions were just too adorable for her to resist. Though his want for it to be perfect was appreciated, her cheeks heated softly.

'It will be, I'm sure.' she replied lovingly 'If it's with you, it will be.' and she meant it. Whilst the ancient kitsune did appreciate romance, she was sure she would love whatever Naruto-kun came up with simply because it was him that was doing it.

Naruto's blush faded for a moment coming down from the bright red to a soft pink. 'Kyuubi-chan' he murmured gently. Overwhelmed by the sudden desire to hug or kiss the woman that he knew he would never deserve. He praised all the gods that she thought him worthy of her love. His soft, adoring tone heated Kyuubi's cheeks a bit more. A smile grew on her face as she felt the warmth through their bond. Even if Naruto was capable of fooling the link, somehow, she knew this love was real and she basked in it.

However, whilst talking to Kyuubi he kept half an ear on Iruka-sensei as it seemed his speech had finally finished. His eyes flicked between the other students noting some surprise on their face. Odd. Iruka-sensei's speeches never, ever, managed to arouse surprise like that. Crap. He must of missed something major whilst talking with Kyuubi-chan. Worth it, he decided a moment later. But even so, he was curious, and Sarutobi's betrayal had heightened the boy's already apparent dislike of being left in the dark. His sensitive, chakra enhanced, hearing picked up snippets of whispered conversation in the silence that followed "Hokage-sama... I can't believe... here... speeches... maybe he wants to... Sasuke-kun" his mind was working to piece it together; though he had a nagging feeling he knew what was going to happen, the ol... Hokage-san would be coming here to give a graduation speech? He turned to ask Hinata and confirm his guess. Bless her heart; his princess was just too polite and listened to Iruka-sensei, no matter how boring his speeches were.

However, before he could even manage the first syllable of his question the door to the classroom swung open and Sarutobi walked in dressed in his full Hokage regalia with a hat perched on his head and a warm smile in place as he exuded the aura of grandfatherly affection which made him such a popular leader. From his spot in the back of the room, though Naruto's eyes narrowed, and his posture stiffening, the man's presence still agitated wounds too fresh to have closed up and he honestly doubted he'd ever be able to forgive the elderly man for his betrayal. Though in his heart of hearts he knew that if Sarutobi took him aside within a few weeks to tell him of his mother, then he'd likely forgive him. It just wasn't in his nature not to forgive, even though Kyuubi was doing her best to change that.

"Thank you Umino-kun." Sarutobi nodded to the teacher as he took his place in front of the blackboard and turned to face the class. "First of all, let me echo your teacher's sentiments." he let his gaze sweep over the class, each child seeming to sit up straighter as they met the man's powerful gaze. Even as old as he was, he still was the Hokage and he still demanded, and received, respect from those under him. "Congratulations on passing, and joining the ranks of Konoha shinobi, I look forward to seeing you all flourish and grow into fine warriors." his smile grew a little to show his teeth. His gaze lingering on Naruto as he noted the boy's posture was off, tense, even if his smile was just as he remembered his favourite blondes body language told a different story. He didn't show any signs of it outwardly, far too experienced to let such paltry things as emotion ruin his façade, but ever since Naruto's demeanour towards him had changed he'd found himself worrying over the cause. It was getting to the point where he was tempted to put a few ANBU tails on the jinchuuriki to try and discern the reason. After all if the boy had come into contact with the Kyuubi then there was a serious need to ensure he wasn't being corrupted by the malevolent being. For now though, he was going to let it slide, content in thinking the boy's Jōnin instructor would be able to tease these facts out of the blonde without him needing to waste some of the village's elite on a whim.

'Why is he here?' Naruto pondered. His mask firmly in place as he watched the Hokage greeting them, he knew the man didn't come every year to give such a speech. There had to be a reason for it!

'I don't know.' Kyuubi responded to the question thoughtfully 'I have a few theories.' she mused 'But whatever it is, I guarantee you're the reason for it.'  
Only because his mask was firmly locked in place did Naruto prevent the urge to nod in agreement. When he was in this state the boy could give a Kage a run for their money in terms of hiding his thoughts and emotions, after all his audience had been not only a Kage but the legendary Professor himself, there had simply been no room for error in Naruto's education on these matters. 'I know, but why? Is he here to tell everyone about you? Warn them about me?' that was one of Naruto's worst case scenarios

The demon shook her head softly, once more Naruto knew this without having actually seen it in any way. 'No, no. I doubt it, the only reason he'd do that is if he thought I was going to escape.' Whilst Naruto thought differently Kyuubi knew that Sarutobi was trying to do what he thought was best for Naruto. It was unlikely he'd suddenly do something to spite the boy, though Kyuubi almost wished he would, she detested this village and the sooner she could separate it from her mate the better.

Naruto wasn't so sure, but he trusted Kyuubi, if she said he wouldn't then he likely wouldn't. Kyuubi was smarter than him anyway, and hadn't steered him wrong yet... Icha-Icha excluded... stupid pervy fox. A giggle echoed through his head as he cursed her out again. 'You'll thank me for it later' she teased in her sing-song voice.

"..ut that isn't the reason I cam here today." Sarutobi continued, Naruto's mental conversation having distracted him enough to miss half a sentence or so. The elderly man smiled as he let his gaze sweep up to Naruto, his eyes brightening, despite the boy's defensive body language. "As I'm sure you are all aware Naruto-kun has activated a new bloodline, a doujutsu he's named Gijime." As it appeared the old man had found a way to let the boy's self appointed name for his eyes stand seeing as it was something vaguely sensible rather than the sort of names he'd half expected from the young man.

Inside Naruto's mindscape Kyuubi raised a delicate eyebrow. 'Well that was unexpected.' she thought. She'd assumed he was here just to see Naruto off into his new life as a shinobi, or as a way to try and mend the relationship between them, or even to try and find out why the boy had drifted away. Naruto's eyes likewise widened in surprise, his gaze flicking to Ino and Hinata seeing both the girls were equally confused. Hinata a bit less than Ino being she had had some training with his eyes active... whilst Ino had almost totally forgotten about the Gijime being it really wasn't brought about in their relationship.

Sarutobi watched the wave of mumbled confirmation run through the class with a warm smile. He'd seen that Naruto had had a hard time taking the CRA on board, but he seemed to have adapted well as his ANBU, who always kept their ears to the ground, had informed him of some swirling rumours about Naruto two timing Ino and Hinata, although most of those rumours had been worded rather less kindly. Whilst the elderly Hokage couldn't show too much favouritism for one shinobi, he was a thoroughbred ninja and knew how to bend the rules. Naruto's new clan status, and thus the CRA, was due to be announced when he became a genin. Although he wouldn't have a seat until he produced an heir and made Chûnin, Sarutobi hoped that by doing this he could quash those unsavoury rumours before they could gain any momentum. Nobody was likely to refute his words after all. "Having such, the council of Konoha, with my blessing, has decided to grant Naruto Uzumaki clan status." a shocked gasp and whispered mumblings rolled through the children, Iruka able to bite down on his own shock, although his eyes widened slightly. None were more surprised than the clan heads who knew exactly how big of a deal that might be. Naruto was a clan head now?! Ino smirked to herself; her boyfriend was now a clan head? Even better! There would be no doubting her choice in men or superiority now. Hinata was watching Naruto worriedly as the boy's normally impeccable mask twisted, beneath the desk his hands had clenched into fists and only through extreme force of will did he resist the furious growl that was trying to tear itself from his throat. He saw what Sarutobi was doing!

'Calm down Naruto-kun' Kyuubi soothed, trying her best to project a soothing hug and wishing, as usual, she wasn't trapped in her seal 'I know you're angry, you have every right to be, but we... you, can't do anything right now and if the Hokage gets too suspicious of your change in relationship then he might take drastic action.'

"As such we have also taken steps to ensure the future of the new Uzumaki clan and re-enacted an old law, the clan restoration act. This act allows, forces, young Naruto to find three wives to marry and to produce heirs with."

That shock of that revelation spread through the class like wildfire "Ahhh! Naruto! Why do you get all the luck?!" Kiba teased, perhaps the least subtle of the jealous reactions to this news Naruto got from his classmates. His new admission to the CRA earning him the ire of a few of the girls who were glaring at Naruto like he had asked for it. Some of the more observant were flicking their gaze between him, Hinata, and Ino and for once Ino found herself grateful she wasn't sitting with her friends, knowing wholehearted they would have been chewing her out for answers. By the looks of them that would happen the moment class ended anyway.

'That bastard!' Naruto seethed 'He's making sure I'm just a damn breeder! Making sure they all know so they can push the girls on me and I can't wriggle out of it.' Kyuubi was silently proud that Naruto was learning to read between the lines, it was a pity he was reading between the wrong lines though. Well she thought it was good and had been silently goading his fury at the aged Hokage to new heights, looking to sever his ties to this wretched place. He sunk into his chair a little to avoid the judging eyes. He had once looked for attention and perhaps in another life he would have basked in the glory of having everyone's gaze on him but having Hinata, Kyuubi, and somewhat Ino had tempered that urge and he'd found himself only really caring about those who loved him rather than the general crowd.

Satisfied that he had sorted out those nasty rumours and done Naruto a favour by sorting it all out and breaking the news to his classmates rather than them hearing through the grapevine the ageing Hokage thought that about did it. "That said, I wish all of you luck with your new team placements." he offered the class another warm smile. "Umino-kun, thank you for your time, please continue." He smiled at Iruka who shook his head and offered a smile back ignoring the not so quiet chattering of the class now busy digesting the information they'd be given.

"Not at all Lord Hokage, have a good day." he replied formally

"You too." Sarutobi offered a parting wave as he swept out of the classroom content in knowing he'd done his good deed for the day.

* * *

With the old man gone Naruto let his mask slip somewhat the abject fury pounding through his veins alight in his eyes as he attempted to set his desk on fire with his glare. Something that Hinata easily picked up on "Naruto-kun?" she asked softly, even Ino could clearly see Naruto was less than pleased and she'd yet to really learn to spot or see through the young blonde's mask.

Hinata's soft voice helped calm the boy just as Kyuubi's could, and he glanced up at her, the rage softening as his stormy blue met her worried lavender. "I'm fine." he assured her softly "Just.. why'd he tell them all about.. us?" his gaze flickered to Ino for a moment, the other girl listening in intently curious as to what had riled the usually unflappable boy up. She's seen him irritated sure, anybody could do that, but actually angry? This was a first.

Hinata frowned softly the Hyuuga not truly understanding the issue. "It was going to be revealed when we became genin." she reminded him softly

"But not like this!" Naruto almost snapped but kept his voice down, Iruka had started reading off team placements so it was perhaps a testament to how worried Hinata was that the normally impeccably polite girl was, barely paying any attention to her teacher, doubly so as these placements were so important. "He should have just released the council from their orders not to tell; that's how it's always done." he'd hung around in the Hokage's office long enough as a kid to know that, "But instead he chose to tell our class. He knows I'm happy with what I have, we told him so in the hospital!" it was almost a snarl now, his mask sloughing away as he spoke to expose just how angry the boy was with his one time grandfather. "But no! He decided to tell everyone so now every damn fangirl who wants in on a clan will be trying to break us up." Naruto panted, breathing heavily, eyes incendiary. Mess with him all you wanted, he could take it, but when Sarutobi-teme tried to play with the bonds he held with his precious people then he'd just gone too far!

Hinata and Ino were stunned at the depths of Naruto's anger, for Hinata it brought back memories of the time with Mizuki and she shivered in fear at what Naruto had become. Her eyes unconsciously darting over Naruto to look for any signs of Kyuubi's influence. There were none. Kyuubi herself was fairly calm and so the cascading feedback that had happened with Mizuki was unlikely to happen. Ino was just shocked to see Naruto so angry, it was a window into his personality she'd never seen and it fascinated her to no end. As the shock wore off Hinata started to worry slightly, what Naruto had said was true, any fangirl would chase him now, and she was sure Naruto would leave her for one of the smarter, stronger, just plain better girls out there.

Seeing Hinata start to worry, and having a good idea for the cause, Naruto cursed himself. The iron bars came down on his rage and in a blink he was smiling serenely once more, the only hint of his anger a tiny glimmer in the back of his eyes. Tonight there would be many, many, destroyed trees around the training grounds. Leaning in he hugged the timid girl softly and kissed her cheek, listening as the names for Team 3 were announced "I won't leave you Hinata-chan, no matter what." he reassured her tenderly, it was almost impossible to believe he had been spitting mad a moment before, and honestly being affectionate with his princess did help dull the blonde's anger anyway. Throwing his fury to the wind he kissed her again, this time on the lips to prove his point, ignoring the looks he got from Ino, Iruka and, well, most of the rest of the class.

"Naru-kun." Hinata breathed dreamily about to say more when Iruka interrupted. "Ahem!" the teacher coughed unsure whether to be amused, or irritated by the couple. "If you two are quite done." Hinata squeaked and buried herself in her jacket to evade the chuckles from the class whilst Naruto looked contemplative for a moment as he considered playing it up before discarding the idea since it would embarrass Hinata. After a few seconds of silence Iruka nodded and continued with the team placements.

"Team 8" Iruka began once the squeals from Sakura had died down, the girl gloating over being on a team with 'her' Sasuke-kun, "is Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuuga," Naruto's cheer cut him off at this point the boy impulsively kissing the Hyuuga once again

"Isn't it great Hinata! We're on the same team!" he enthused all but bouncing in place, anger well and truly suppressed by this bit of good news. He quieted down as he realized the glare he was getting "Sorry Iruka-sensei." he mumbled as he sank into his seat, more humble than usual for fear the man might change his team if he made too much of a fuss.

It took the Chûnin a few seconds to process the fact that Naruto, the Naruto Uzumaki, had actually apologized like... like he was a well mannered student! "and Ino Yamanaka." he finished to another whoop from the blonde female of the class.

Despite not quite having gotten as familiar with Naruto as Hinata was Ino too, kissed Naruto firmly on the lips her outgoing nature easily making up the difference "Isn't it great, I'm on your team too!" she chirped brightly, tactfully ignoring the mutters from the boys or the mumbles from the girls about how they could stand to share like that.

"Your Jōnin instructor!" Iruka continued through gritted teeth, his patience about running out with all these interruptions, "Will be Kurenai." though she wasn't vocal about it Hinata's eyes lit up and her smile widened at that announcement

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto hissed quietly "Is that the Kurenai you know?" he'd heard of the red eyed Genjutsu specialist from Hinata once or twice and held her in high esteem for no other reason than one of his precious people, Hinata, did so as well.

The Hyuuga's head bobbed slowly "I th...think so Naruto... Naruto-kun." she replied hopefully. All they could do now was wait and see, Kurenai couldn't be that common a name... could it?


	54. Chapter 54

Ino could see that Hinata and Naruto seemed oddly tense as they were given the name of their Jōnin instructor. She glanced over to try and catch their attention. Silently, so to not interrupt Iruka-sensei's wrath after he'd already been pushed thus far by the class. However they didn't notice, or didn't respond if they did, leaving Ino to stew in her curiosity as Iruka continued with the team listings. It was interesting to listen to the remaining fan-girls mutter about the unfairness of life, and how lucky Sakura was. Since most of the parents now a days had started pushing for them to get close to Naruto, in hopes of gaining the prestige offered by his Gijime, Sasuke had lost a few supporters. Not enough for him to take drastic action, but rather a small dent than a mass exodus. The exams had been far more effective of stripping the self-proclaimed avenger of his cheerleader section. Ino herself was rather torn on the issue, both boys would serve to boost her standing if she netted them. But in the end, Naruto had simply been the easier of the two to obtain. However, as she spent more time with the blonde, that soft whispering in the back of her head was slowly convincing her that she was staying with the boy for much more than just the status upgrade he represented. She was now finding herself just wanting to hang out with him, just wanting to talk, to be with... him.

For Naruto and Hinata, the team assignment seemed to slow to a glacial pace. Both of them anxiously awaiting the arrival of Kurenai to see if it was the one they, or rather Hinata, knew so well or if it was just some random person and the universe was playing a cruel joke on them. Naruto wouldn't be too surprised by it either. 'What do you think Kyuubi-chan?' Naruto asked as Iruka continued to finish listing off teams.

'Hmmm, about this Kurenai-san?' Kyuubi asked softly 'I think she's most likely the one Hinata-chan is thinking of.' she paused for a moment 'As well as they seem to know each other Sarutobi-san would almost certainly put Hinata-chan on her team so she could motivate her the best.'

Naruto's head bobbed a fraction of an inch in agreement 'That makes sense.' he agreed thoughtfully. It was a good decision to place students under familiar teachers. His growing distrust, and dislike of the old man aside, the more strategic side that Kyuubi was slowly grooming him to use more often showing itself. Yet, how could the old man be so competent one minute, yet to allow what happened to Naruto occur... It just didn't add up, and Naruto found himself believing more and more the old man had specifically let it happen.

Kyuubi just smiled a little wider 'Since you're going to have a Jōnin instructor soon I think we can start to step up your training a bit.' she offered the boy. She'd let him watch his classmates' Taijutsu forms from the graduation training, along with other sparring sessions. So far Naruto was progressing nicely in the very beginner stages of most of the styles. Even though lacking a real Sharingan or Kiba's particular feral build she doubted he'd ever be anything more than middle of the range in their specific styles. Still it never hurt to learn them, and they helped Naruto focus and build his body and reflexes up. With a Jōnin around, they could find better things to start learning and she could begin teaching him some of the jutsu he'd witnessed, or read. By now Naruto was fairly proficient with his chakra strings though he rarely used them for much more than elaborate chakra control exercises. That would need to change, they were his one unique skill at the moment and without even thinking too hard Kyuubi could envision at least two dozen ways they could be used to great affect on the battlefield. Still... She wasn't going to just hand the answers to Naruto, he had a mind almost as devious as her own in some respects, he'd surely figure out their uses soon enough. He probably just lacked the real combat experience to force him to experiment with the technique.

Grinning just a bit wider Naruto's eyes flickered to the door, his enhanced hearing picking up the soft footfalls of people coming down the corridor. They didn't appear to be going slowly at all, certainly not as slow enough to be trying to be quiet. Yet he had to strain his chakra enhanced senses to even pick it up, Jōnin really were something else. 'I know Kyuubi-chan, and I can't wait.' he replied enthusiastically. It had always been the plan to kick his training into high gear once he was on a team, improving too fast by himself would just bring up many questions Naruto really didn't want to have to answer.

Kyuubi just giggled softly 'I don't think you'll be saying that once we get started.' she teased light-heartedly. So far Naruto had yet to voice any serious complaints about his training, beyond the usual ones about the lack of "super cool jutsu" as he phrased it. She knew him well enough to be fairly sure no matter how hard she pushed the boy he'd never complain as long as he understood the point of what he was doing.

Any further conversation, mental or not, was halted as the door to the classroom opened and the Jōnin filed in. Most of the class were obviously rather surprised by their sudden appearance since Iruka was just finishing a second, thankfully shorter, speech about the importance of their new teams. Out of the entire class only a tiny handful had known in advance that the Jōnin had been there. Kiba had smelt them, Shino's insects had informed him of their presence, and Naruto had, obviously, heard them. Hinata might of seen them but it was considered rude for a Hyuuga to activate their eyes outside of combat.

There were three Jōnin in all, although a total of 17 had passed, some students had been assigned to older teams to replace those genin who, sadly, had died in service of the village. Of them Naruto only recognised one, Asuma, the old man's eldest son. He really wasn't familiar with the chain-smoker but he'd seen him about often enough to be able to put a name to his face.

He also noted a tall, rather beautiful, woman with startling red eyes. He wasn't certain if she was Kurenai but she certainly matched a lot of the descriptions Hinata had given him. Glancing to his left he saw Hinata visible relax and the corner of her lips curl up. Well that was all the proof the blonde really needed "So it is her?" he whispered softly.

Hinata's head bobbed softly but she didn't reply verbally, her soft violet eyes on the woman who had almost become another mother to her. The genjutsu mistress was wearing her usual dress but since it was a semi-formal occasion she'd dug out her flak jacket and worn it as well. Her red eyes flicked up to Hinata and a tiny smile tugged at her lips. Naruto was whispering but really, he might as well have yelled his question. For the obvious reason of the most common trait of most Jōnin, they all possessed the same finely tuned senses as himself. So, Hinata-chan had been talking about her to Naruto-san then? Interesting... She had kind of expected it with how enthusiastically the shy Hyuuga had talked of the blonde to her, but confirmation was nice. Although, she'd have to pull them both aside for a good long thorough talk about his intentions with her little sister, as she liked to refer to her. Especially with the boy having been put under the mantle of the CRA. Hinata-chan was putting up a good front, but it had to bother the girl.

Shaking aside her preconceptions, it wouldn't do for a Jōnin to show such bias towards her students. Especially before she even got to know the boy beyond her little sister's lovestruck rambling. She moved forward and took her place in the small line of instructors that was forming in front of Iruka's desk, falling into file next to Asuma and shooting the man a small smile, one that twitched down as she caught the fresh, unmistakable, scent of cigarette smoke clinging to his jacket. How many times had she told him to quit smoking those damn things?!

Strangely as the Jōnin lined up in front of the class there was a gap left between them. Having not really paid much attention to the team assignments it took Naruto a few moments to realise there must have been four instructors announced. He silently wondered where the fourth was, who would be late to something like this? But only giving the question a passing thought, his instructor was in front of him so it didn't really matter.

Iruka called the teams forward one at a time and their instructors lead them away, "Team 8" he finally announced. Naruto, having already half risen to his feet, was the first to walk down to Kurenai grinning happily at the prospect of learning from the woman. Hinata-chan always said she was strong so he was sure he'd learn all sorts of badass things!

Kurenai smiled lightly at the enthusiasm she could see burning in the boy's eyes, her gaze flicking to Ino and Hinata who had followed Naruto at a slightly more sedate pace "As I'm sure Iruka-san told you, I am Kurenai Yuhi, I will be your Jōnin instructor." She let her unique red eyes sweep over newly announced the ninja, before her "Please follow me, we'll finish our introductions elsewhere." she turned smartly and headed out of the classroom with a calm, dignified, walk, her new students following behind her.

As they left they heard Iruka's voice floating down the school corridor "Team 7... I'm so sorry." Kurenai's lips curled up into a smile as she suppressed the giggle that threatened to spill forth. Kakashi's habitual lateness offended her sense of duty but even so it was amusing when it was causing other people grief, and not holding up their Jōnin briefings.

* * *

Kurenai lead her team out of the academy and down the high-street. Flanked by his team and trailing a reasonably well known Jōnin Naruto drew far less glares than usual. Though he was still being shot dirty looks. As usual these just seemed to glance off Naruto who barely even appeared to register them, though on either side the dark look in Hinata's eyes and the soft frown pulling at Ino's face let Kurenai know her female students were aware of this discrimination and neither of them approved.

Kurenai's senses were acute enough to pick up the hushed whispers and she wasn't blind enough to miss the looks Naruto and, by association, the rest of her team was getting. She'd known of the discrimination the young boy suffered under but to see it in person was another matter entirely. Before it had merely been a point of shame for her, a black mark on Konoha as a whole. But even barely knowing the boy she found herself getting annoyed by the stares as they walked. That he put up with this daily certainly earned him some points in her eyes.

Finally, they arrived at their destination. A small park a couple of blocks away from the academy. Konoha was littered with many such small areas where greenery was encouraged. This one was Kurenai's personal favourite as it harboured a wonderful array of geranium plants that flowered into a beautiful pattern of blue and white. Finding an empty picnic bench she sat down and turned her gaze to her genin.

Ino, with her knowledge of plants had been to this garden, and indeed most of the public gardens, before. But she let her gaze sweep over the plants enjoying their natural beauty. Hinata too had been here before, but whilst she lacked the knowledge that Ino held, she was a keener gardener and the cornucopia of flowers distracted her more than the Yamanaka. Finally there was Naruto whose gaze did flicker to the colourful petals of the flowers, but they didn't hold his attention like they did for the others and his focus was almost entirely on Kurenai.

Clearing her throat brought everyone's attention to her immediately, and giving them a soft smile the Jōnin began "Now then, I told you my name in the classroom. I think it's only fair you tell me yours." she knew them, of course, she'd read their profiles thoroughly as any good Jōnin instructor would. Even Hinata's.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto was, predictably, first to speak up "Nice to meet you Kurenai-sensei! Hinata-chan has told me loads about you." He was genuinely happy to meet someone who helped his precious person so much. Hinata blushed at his carefree declaration to the older woman, her gaze averting a little.

Silently glad he had chosen to call her Kurenai-sensei rather than something less... appropriate Kurenai nodded and smiled a soft fond smile "I see, Hinata-chan has told me about you as well." She responded lightly, as it was practically her job to tease her little sister a little, especially now Hinata had the self esteem to survive it.

Ino saw how red Hinata was getting and chose to interject and save the Hyuuga from further embarrassment. Was this what those two had been talking about before? Why did the Hyuuga princess know a Jōnin? It didn't add up. "I'm Ino Yamanaka." She introduced herself simply.

Her confusion must of shown however as Kurenai answered her unspoken question anyway "I'm sure you know how Hinata and Naruto know each other, I know Hinata because I became something of a personal trainer to her during the academy." her tone was carefully neutral, and her phrasing designed to answer without giving any details "But do not worry, I won't be showing any favouritism, it would be unprofessional." she offered the blonde girl a reassuring smile to go with the statement.

Ino nodded, believing the older woman "Ah ok." She hadn't known Hinata-san had had access to a personal trainer but it did make sense. Such a noble clan as the Hyuuga's. Of course they would give their heir every advantage under the sun to ensure she was the best. She couldn't help the thought that skipped through her mind, cruel as it was, that such training was really wasted on someone as meek as Hinata.

"You three seem to know each other." Kurenai noted, she knew Hinata and Naruto were an item. Every Jōnin did, along with the information that Hinata could apparently subdue the Kyuubi's influence on the boy. But nothing had reached her ears about Ino, Hinata certainly had never even mentioned the girl during any of their talks.

Naruto nodded and smiled widely, his gaze flickered to both Hinata and Ino for a moment silently asking for permission. When the girls nodded back faintly, Hinata's cheeks reddening slightly, he turned his eyes back to Kurenai's "They're my girlfriends!" he announced proudly "Or at least Hinata-chan is, I don't think I asked Ino-chan if we were yet but we've been on a few dates and I just assumed, I me..." he began rambling before Ino cut him off with a giggle

"Yes Naruto-kun, I'm your girlfriend." she assured him, her cheeks heating faintly. God he was just so cute when he got all flustered like that, Ino thought to herself. She found herself comparing Naruto and Sasuke more and more, Naruto's cute versus Sasuke's cool. Both were attractive in their own way and some dark voice hissed that Naruto could be cool too if given the chance, that same voice that was slowly making her lean more towards the bright blonde with whom she was now dating.

Hinata was seized with a powerful urge to grab Naruto and kiss him senseless, some primal urge to stake her claim to him. But she didn't act on it, just watched the two interact with a soft frown marring her features. She didn't want to share, and she especially didn't want to watch him be sweet with anyone but her. She would do anything for Naruto. Though, and if enduring this meant she got those wonderful moments when it was just the two of them then she'd bear the pain gladly.


	55. Chapter 55

Sorry this is so late, espcially to those who I told this would be coming out last week =p I cam down with a bug and my beta was delayed by a trip to a hopsital, though most of the blame falls on my head, so yeah L worked together to delay this pretty badly. So sorry. That said, here you go, hope you enjoy ^^

* * *

Kurenai's brows furrowed. Like the rest of the Jōnin, she'd been informed of Naruto's bloodline the day it had shown itself. She had also been informed about it's apparent Sharingan-like ability to record anything Naruto saw. However, she'd only been told about the decision to enact the CRA yesterday, and she was assuming Naruto had learnt about it then too. He had already managed to find another girlfriend in less than a day?! Had he already been shopping around?! Her teeth ground in righteous fury for her little sister. From the stories she'd heard, Naruto didn't seem the sort, but the evidence was right there in front of her. Her gaze flickered back to Hinata and softened, though the fury was still burning in her crimson orbs. Had she known about it? She looked like she had. Why?! Had Naruto been taking advantage of Hinata's submissive nature? Her hand twitched through the first dozen hand signs of her signature illusion; Tree Binding Death. "Explain." she managed to grind out, she was a Jōnin, it wouldn't do for her to act rashly. Though if Naruto was as bad as she now suspected, then nothing would save him from her wrath.

Naruto and Ino had been a little caught up with each other, and Hinata in her sudden possessiveness, so none of the illusion mistress' charges had noticed the anger spreading over the woman's features. Turning to face her, Naruto blanched as he held out his hands shaking them in front of him in some attempt to ward off the angry woman, "Didn't Hinata-chan tell you? I'm part of the CRA so this is ok!" he defended. Although silently thankful of Hinata and Kyuubi for ensuring he was able to understand what was angering Kurenai.

"And when exactly would she do that?" Kurenai snapped, taking a mental breath to calm herself. It wouldn't be becoming for her to go off on a genin without a real reason.

That gave Naruto pause as he glanced back at Hinata, "I thought you guys met up most weeks?" he questioned, his brow creasing in a frown.

His confusion certainly seemed genuine to Kurenai, and her anger diffused further; there was obviously some kind of problem here, it didn't add up.

Hinata's cheeks were red as she glanced to his side, "Ummm I d..d..id.. didn't tell k..k..Kurenai-sensei abo..about the CRA." she admitted. She'd told herself it was fine and pushed it to the back of her mind. It wasn't something she really liked to think about, and liked even less now Naruto and his relationship with Ino were being all put pushed into her face.

The Jōnin glanced between the two as something clicked in her head "How long have you known about it?" she asked, careful to keep her voice clean of anything but curiosity. It was clear now that the pair had known about the CRA for a while.

"Since the night of the graduation test." Naruto replied with a shrug. "Why?" He'd heard the announcement earlier, but he'd figured everyone had been told when he'd found out, if not earlier since he had been in the hospital.

Ahh, well that made sense that he'd known for a few weeks. Still, it was a little fast to pick up a second girlfriend in her opinion, but no longer the abhorrent behaviour she'd previously suspected. "It's nothing, just curious." she waved off the question, noting that Naruto was still clearly curious and her deflection seemed to have only made him more so. She'd need to talk with Hinata alone at some point and find out what the girl really felt about this, and have a little _talk_ with Naruto about making sure Hinata was happy.

Ino was shocked to hear Naruto had known about the CRA for so long. She'd been in the dark until he'd told her, and it seemed like this Jōnin had been too. It slightly rubbed her the wrong way that her two team-mates had managed to keep such a juicy thing from her for this long. "So is that it?" she asked, in her mind this was just a sort of meet and greet style thing and it was clear that everyone seemed to know each other fairly well. Well she didn't know Kurenai but it was pretty clear the other two did and she seemed alright from the little she'd seen of her so far.

Kurenai was silent as she considered the question, she'd planned this intro as a way to see her team's dynamic and to get to know Naruto and Ino. Though she was slightly ashamed to admit she was more intently focused on Naruto, considering his closeness to Hinata, and everything she'd heard of the boy from the shy heir. "I was planning to use this time to let you all get to know each other but you seem to have done that already." she grinned "So I think I need to change my plan a little, how much do you now about each other's ninja abilities?"

Naruto grinned widely "I know what Hinata-chan can do!" he volunteered quickly, radiating pride in his girlfriend, "She's really good with her Gentle Fist, she almost managed to defeat Iruka-sensei during our test!"

Kurenai raised an eyebrow as Hinata shrunk back shyly from the spotlight Naruto's praise had thrown her into. She knew Iruka in passing and he was a good ninja, a solid Chûnin, he must have been holding back a fair bit for any genin, even for a Hyuuga like Hinata, to match him. Well it was just the academy test so that made sense, asking students to fight a Chûnin was just expecting too much. Surprisingly Ino gave a small nod as she remembered that short spar. The Jōnin had seen their academy grades and she knew Hinata had done very well in her taijutsu section but Naruto was the type to exaggerate his stories. Had the training Hinata had done with Naruto really improved the girl that much? No, Hinata might have improved but the girl couldn't be Chûnin level. Still she couldn't voice her scepticism, Hinata's ego was already fractured and she refused to hurt her little sister by speaking up like that. She knew Hinata-chan could be a good, even a great ninja, if she gained to confidence to back up her natural talent and moved away from the ill-suited, rigid, stances of traditional gentle fist. "And Ino?" the Jōnin asked Naruto.

At this Naruto paused and frowned softly, he new a little, "I've never really trained with Ino." he admitted, "So I don't know her abilities too well." his Hyuuga princess had proved a more than capable distraction for ninety percent of the academy exam too, so he hadn't really seen how the Yamanaka heir had fared the test either. Still, you didn't go through the entire academy with someone without at least getting a rough outline of what they could do. "She's decent with throwing weapons and middle of the class in taijutsu, like me she uses the academy style." he paused for a moment "Her clan has a bunch of mind techniques, though I don't know too much about them." he'd certainly had first hand experience with them, and Kyuubi seemed to be trying to unravel how they worked so she could build a defence against them. But with the precious little information she had, the ancient fox really had her work cut out for her there.

Ino deflated a little as she noted Naruto's tone, he didn't have the same breathless pride in her abilities as he had with Hinata's. It stung. Why she cared so much about what the boy thought she didn't really know; she'd never planned, or wanted to impress someone with her ninja techniques. She had her looks and those should be enough. Although in the back of her mind that voice that wasn't her own yet was hers whispered that she was letting her Naruto down, she needed to get strong to defend him! To look after him! She needed to get stronger! Get free! That last though made her brow crease, free? Why had she thought that? Free from what? It was then her gaze met Kurenai's questioning one; the Jōnin silently asking the young blonde if Naruto's assessment was accurate. Ino gave a small nod of agreement, she was ok with the basic three academy jutsu, but it was nothing to write home about so she didn't feel the need to tack anything onto Naruto's list.

"And Naruto?" Kurenai asked glancing between the girls curiously, she knew all of their abilities from their files and it was interesting to see what they knew, or thought, about each other. "Not you, your team-mates." she added as she noted Naruto opening his mouth to tell her about his own accomplishments.

"He's good at taijutsu." Hinata spoke up softly, refusing to meet their eyes as she did so, "When we spar he always beats me."

"But you're still better!" Naruto hastened to correct Hinata's statement. He was proud of his abilities, gained through training with Kyuubi, but he'd seen time and time again that he was no match for Hinata's gentle fist. In the end he always won because Hinata was still too timid to go for any truly serious blows, even in sparring. Her hesitation in attacking her crush usually resulted in her loss. It was something Naruto had been working hard to break her out of. He knew how awesome the Hinata could be, and he hated how weak she thought she was.

Kurenai's lips tugged upwards a little at the sight before her, watching as Hinata's back straightened just a little. Naruto really could be good for her. At least if the CRA didn't bring everything crashing down.

Ino, likewise, felt her lips tug up slightly as she watched them interact. She'd seen how good of a couple they made, and the more she saw them together the stronger that conviction became. Yet somehow she was finding it harder and harder to be jealous of Hinata because of it, harder to convince herself that she needed to tear them apart. Naruto could have them both right? The CRA said it was ok and it was natural for a man to have more than one girl? Wasn't it? Slowly Kyuubi's own ideas of mating and courtship were leaking out and becoming Ino's. Her thoughts becoming far more open to sharing and to forming a pack, rather than taking Naruto for herself. Still it would be a while before they took hold permanently rather than surfacing in these moments of empathy for what she was planning to destroy for her own desires. "I also saw you do clones without a hand-sign" Ino spoke up, remembering Naruto's display. She never had asked him about that. "Our teachers said that was like an ANBU skill, how did you do it?"

"It's not an ANBU skill," Kurenai corrected off-handedly. "It's usually Jōnin level for the more basic jutsu, though removing all the hand signs is quite rare." She let her distinctive red eyes land on the blonde boy, "I will admit I'm curious about that too, how did you learn to do that?" she'd seen the report on the incident with the scroll of sealing, the edited, non-classified version at least. Naruto had picked up basic chakra string manipulation, the basis of Suna puppetry. Not a dangerous technique but forbidden simply for the diplomatic problems that could emerge if Konoha was discovered to be training its own puppeteers. It was possible that technique had given the boy the inspiration to try removing his hand-signs from other techniques, but even if that were the case he couldn't possibly have had the time to master such a technique. It took years of practice familiarising yourself with a jutsu to be able to cast it sealless without wasting huge swathes of chakra.

All eyes turned to Naruto who chuckled and bashfully and rubbed the back of his head. If it had been something learnt simply because it was cool then he would have been all too happy to brag about it, but his sealless clones were a crutch to waste the vast amount of chakra he poured into the technique. Bragging about that would be like bragging about the cool crutch he needed to walk on his broken leg. "Well you know I have a ton of chakra, right?" He asked, knowing he wasn't getting away without an explanation, and not wishing to lie to his girlfriends or his teacher. She might even be able to offer him a way to help his control without also increasing his reserves. Kyuubi-chan admitted freely she understood relatively little about human chakra techniques; though now it was important to someone she cared for she was rapidly learning.

Kurenai and Hinata nodded, Kurenai knew of the boy's burden, and so understood exactly why his reserves were so high, whilst Hinata was a Hyuuga and whenever she had her eyes activated she could see he crush's strength. The young blonde radiated chakra, bright enough to almost be painful to look at directly. Ino nodded too, though she was more hesitant. She'd heard in passing that Naruto had a ton of chakra; but she had no way of confirming it like Hinata, nor had she seen any real proof of it.

"Well because of it my chakra control is really bad. Like really bad." He continued, Kurenai nodding her head in understanding. That made sense; large reserves often did make precise control difficult. The Jōnin wasn't exactly sure where her male ninja was going with this explanation though. "Some of the basic techniques were pretty easy." Naruto continued. Henge had come naturally, as if he were remembering an old trick rather than learning something new. "But I could never manage a good clone, turned out I was pumping waaaay too much chakra into the technique and that was causing it to fail." He gave another bashful chuckle, "I found this out like a few days before the exam, which is why I really didn't have time to work around it properly. So I figured if I cut out hand signs most of the chakra I pumped in would be wasted and so I wouldn't end up overloading it."

Kurenai's eyes widened in shock. That was brilliant! He was using the sealless jutsu like a safety valve to blow off the excess chakra? In the field that would just be sticking a beacon over her team for any chakra sensors within a mile to come find them, but for a genin that was truly a remarkable piece of lateral thinking. Just the sort of mind someone needed to be a true practitioner of her art. "That was a good idea Naruto-kun." she agreed with a nod "But we'll definitely have to work on your control until you can use your clones without having to resort to such measures."

Naruto nodded eagerly, "Cool! When can we start?!" he was hungry to learn any and all ninja techniques he could get his hands on. His love of awesome jutsu remained the strongest motivator, but chakra control was working towards Kyuubi teaching him those six or seven S-ranked jutsu she claimed to know and the young boy was all too eager to rush towards that particular prize. They were S-ranked! They had to be awesome!

Kurenai suddenly felt a little bad about getting the boy's hopes up, after all they hadn't passed her test yet. They might just be sent back to the academy. She was hesitant to fail Hinata, but it was better that than sending her into the field unprepared to be killed or worse. "Well if you want me to train you," She smiled almost teasingly. "you had better pass the true test tomorrow."


	56. Chapter 56

Of the three genin only Hinata didn't seemed shocked by this revelation. Naturally the academy itself didn't advertise the presence of a second exam, doing so would only demotivate students, and it was generally considered cheating to warn potential shinobi about it, since they were usually about teamwork and a way for a Jōnin to get a more accurate psychological profile of their team there was little that could be done to prepare for them anyway.

Hinata had, of course, been warned by her father and a few other older members of the clan, nothing specific was given but she had been told she was expected to pass both exams and from there it was fairly easy to realise a second test was coming.

"True test?!" Naruto managed to splutter out, his outraged expression mirroring Ino's as the girl screeched her protest "Why weren't we told about this?!"

Kurenai allowed herself a faint giggle at her charges' reactions, remembering her own annoyance at this exam. "You weren't told because that would defeat the purpose of the exam." she responded, if they knew the exam was about teamwork and how they acted then any reading they could get wouldn't be accurate.

"What do you mean?" Naruto inquired "Defeat the purpose?" how could that happen? He considered asking Kyuubi if she had an idea but he'd realised that she was becoming his go to answer for any problem and he agreed with the fox that it didn't help him to just have answers given to him like that. Well. He agreed with some reluctance at least.

Kurenai smiled and shook her head, her raven hair shifting behind her at the motion "I'm not going to say anything else on the matter Naruto-san." she denied the boy his answers "The test will be tomorrow morning, meet here at" she paused for a moment to consider the time "Five a.m." there was no need to set the test so early but it would be a good way to see how disciplined they were.

A good shinobi had no problem with taking a mission at any time of day. Of course they were fresh genin so she would give them so lenience with such an early time but any more than half-an-hour or so and she'd be forced to fail them. Tardiness wasn't something she tolerated, it was one of the reasons she never did get along with Kakashi despite a few of her friends being close to the man. At least as close as it seemed possible to get to the aloof ninja.

This time the shock was shared by all three young ninja, their eye's widening. Hinata was typically soft spoken, getting over her surprise without an external outburst, only her body language really displaying the emotions that ran through her. "Yes Kurenai-sensei." she acquiesced softly, her agreement accompanied by a soft bobbing of her head but lost in Ino's louder outrage.

"Five?!" The girl exclaimed she wanted to make a good impression on her teacher but this just wouldn't do! "How do you expect me to wake up at five?! I need my beauty sleep" The young heir had been rather coddled by her father and whilst the academy started fairly early she almost never rose from bed before seven.

Naruto himself was frowning but not really bothered by the time, more surprised than anything. His training could easily carry through to the early hours of the morning and sometimes he found the sun rising before he even realised how much time had passed. Whether from Kyuubi or his Uzumaki heritage he didn't seem that worse off for missing the odd night of sleep and could get by on less hours than a normal person. Not that he'd put his limits to the test yet, though Kyuubi-chan had earmarked that as something to do in the future.

Kurenai's lips twitched down into a firm frown as she fixed Ino with a withering look "Are you or are you not a Shinobi Ino-san?" she demanded, voice clipped

"I am." Ino replied without hesitation, her frown lessening for a moment in confusion as she made to ask what that had to do with anything

"Then you should be prepared to act at any time of day." Kurenai insisted strongly "This is not the academy, your hours are not fixed, if the mission says leaving at midnight I expect you to respond just as punctually as if it was midday and I don't want to hear any grumbling, you chose this path."

Ino backed down and deflated as she nodded meekly, not really used to being told off like this "Yes Kurenai-sensei" she mumbled.

The older woman nodded and her frown dissolved into a soft smile once more"That's better, this change might be hard at first but you need to learn how to wake at any time." even if they stuck to normal missions the skill was needed for watch duty.

Again Ino nodded "Yes sensei." she agreed, a soft frown still playing across her face. She understood the reasoning now but she still didn't like it. "Good. that's all then. Remember; here, at five. Team Eight. Dismissed!" Her tone was sharp and steely, the dismissal clearly an order and the young genin young themselves shifting to stand more to attention at the tone. Kurenai might not have been a born leader like the Hokage but she could easily command impressionable teens.

With her dismissal still ringing in the air the Jōnin made a few quick hand signs before vanishing in a shunsin. Ino glanced around as their instructor vanished, all three of them having been around or seen enough ninjas in their time to recognise a shunsin when they saw it. Ino's frown deepened once more "Five?!" she cried out dramatically now Kurenai wasn't there to chastise her "How am I supposed to be up at five?!"

Hinata was the first to respond "Go to s.. a little ear..early Ino-san." she offered the solution she would be using, like Ino she'd had a rather sheltered upbringing but her family were much harder on her so the shy girl didn't have any real issue with their orders.

Naruto chuckled and nodded shooting Hinata a smile as he put a consoling hand on Ino's shoulder "Or just don't sleep I mean the test is only..." he paused, face scrunching up as he did some quick maths "Sixteen hours or so." he finally announced with a soft shrug, it was what he was going to do after all.

"Don't sleep?" Ino shook her head "I need my beauty sleep. I don't know how anyone can go without sleep."

Naruto shrugged "Well just take Hinata-chan's advice and sleep early then."

With a sigh Ino nodded "I guess I will have to." she agreed reluctantly, it had been what she was going to do anyway but she didn't need to enjoy that fact and she felt she was allowed to complain about Kurenai having such unreasonable demands of them.

They stood together in an awkward silence for a few moments but between Ino and Naruto there was really no chance that it would last. In the end Ino spoke up first, her blue orbs flicking between her two team-mates, though lingering noticeably on Naruto more than her rival turned team-mate. "So what shall we do now?"

Hinata, predictably, didn't get a word in edgewise as Naruto answered almost immediately. Though even if they had asked the shy Hyuuga heir directly she wouldn't have really know what to suggest. "Well" Naruto chirped, smile firmly on his features as his gaze couldn't decide which girlfriend it wanted to linger on most "we could get some team training in, me and Hinata train all the time and I'm sure you'll enjoy it too Ino-chan!" he smiled at her as he spoke "Or we could go on a date?" he offered with a shrug, aside from eating and sleeping there was little Naruto did other than training or going on dates. Some might have called it a meagre or sad life but for the first time he could recall the blonde was happy ad looking forward to each day as they came.

Both girls frowned faintly and for a moment their eyes met, unseen sparks flying as a silent war raged between them. Neither of the girls wanting to have to share Naruto and neither wishing to have a joint date. "We can train." Ino finally announced with a grin, as if the silent spar with Hinata hadn't happened.

She'd heard the enthusiasm with which the blonde spoke of her skills and she was determined to make it so he could be just as proud and happy for her. In the back of her mind that ever present voice was still whispering about getting stronger for Naruto for entirely different reasons but with these thoughts running along so similar lines to her own she didn't even notice.

Oblivious to the undercurrents he'd missed Naruto nodded eagerly, a wide smile spreading across his lips "Ok!" he chirped throwing his arms around both girls easily "Our first training session as team eight! Let's do our best!"

* * *

Smiling to himself Naruto wove through the dark streets of Konoha in the early hours of the morning. It was still just over an hour until they had to meet up for the test but he didn't want to risk failing and letting his team or precious people down so he wanted to arrive early. This early the usually bustling streets were empty, lifeless, it was almost eerie for one who knew the town during the day, the only movement the odd screech of a bat or owl or the constant flickering shadows and half-seen figures of the many ninja who operated during the night going about their business. If he'd been in the shinobi sectors many shops would still be open but this garden was located in a civilian shopping area and so there was nary a soul.

'What do you think Kyuubi-chan? Are we going to pass or what?' he asked as he turned right to take a short-cut through an alleyway, vaulting over a few fences without even thinking about it. He wasn't in any real hurry but it was more or less habit to take this route through this section of town rather than sticking to the usual streets. It wasn't really a question but more the boy bragging, he'd trained with his girlfriends for an hour or two until Ino had gotten tired and left. He knew the two heirs were both really strong!

'I can't say.' Kyuubi replied honestly 'I'm smart not psychic.' she teased softly 'You and Hinata-san seem to work well together, but after training together for a few weeks I'd expect that.' they weren't in sync just yet, that took months at the very least, but they knew each other's attack patterns well enough that they didn't actively trip each other up and really that was as good as you could ask from a newly minted genin team. Personally Kyuubi didn't share her love's rose tinted view of the two girls, Ino-san was a mess relying almost painfully on her clan jutsu and only having her weak taijutsu to fall back on, the basic three were slow and painfully telegraphed. With her body she had some hope for using seduction to make her foes falter but for now nobody over a Chûnin would fall for it. Hinata was barely better but she was, at least, a solid genin in Kyuubi's opinion.

As a group any Jōnin would destroy them, she had no illusions on that but she also doubted they'd let their village elites go all out on a group of fresh recruits so they likely had a chance. She'd make Naruto stronger though, he was improving fast and she wouldn't rest until his name was whispered in the dark in the same way hers would. Oh yes her mate would be great. She'd make sure of it and wouldn't accept anything less.

Seeing as there was no-one to listen in he allowed a soft chuckle to bubble from his throat as he nodded in agreement, jumping and grabbing a window ledge and using it as a lever to flick his body up onto the rooftops, 'You think we're going to have to fight her then?' he asked with a soft frown. He was getting better, he knew that, but he knew from Hinata that Kurenai specialised in Genjutsu and that was his weakest subject, low level genjutsu simply didn't affect him but the stronger ones did and with his immunity to the weaker ones he'd never practiced any of the countermeasures. For a moment worry blossomed in the boy's heart, fear of letting his precious people down, but he pushed it back and shook his head to clear his doubts 'It's no problem, we'll beat her even if we do need to fight her!' He clenched his fist firmly and nodded to himself. Failure? He refused to fail ever again!

Inside his head Kyuubi grinned toothily as she heard the thought echoing through his mind. There it was, the drive, the surety, that would make her mate great. 'Of course.' she agreed easily 'You've, we've, been training for this day, to make you a ninja.' her voice was all but a purr, eyes glimmering brightly 'You can pass. You can do this. If a barrier blocks your way, plough through it, if someone is holding you back push past them, you will be great, we'll make you great.' she barely caught herself from saying she'd make him great, sure that discounting the efforts of the other girls in her mate's pack wouldn't go down well no matter how minuscule they actually were.

Naruto shot off the roof of the bakery and caught himself on the branch of a tree, using the momentum to swing himself forward off the branch, the friction burns healing as fast as he got them, and finally arresting his speed with a few rolls before straightening and continuing to walk down the path 'I'll be strong.' he agreed firmly, he didn't care about greatness, he wanted strength 'Strong enough to protect you and everyone else Kyuubi-chan. No matter what.' he never voiced it as one but his voice was just as solemn and reverent as when he was making a promise. Indeed the boy thought it went unsaid that the most sacred promise he had was to protect his precious people from harm. No matter what.

Kyuubi smiled warmly and nodded, her cheeks flushing faintly in spite of herself, 'I know Naruto-kun.' she breathed 'I know just how you feel about me' Indeed she was in his mindscape and bound to his very soul she couldn't help but feel every little bit of his love pouring through into her. 'And I feel just the same about you.'

Despite the flawless acrobatics he'd been able to pull off whilst talking before that statement made the blonde stumble in his sedate walk, almost tripping over his feet as his cheeks coloured a deep red. Even now after a few weeks or months he could barely contain himself whenever he realised once more that there were people who genuinely loved him.

Glancing around he found a bench a few feet down the path, his walking sped up into an almost sprint as he sat down, rest his back against a mighty, ancient, ash tree as his eyes fluttered closed. The boy eagerly seeking his mindscape to reply to that statement in a more physical way. Naruto had always been someone who felt actions spoke louder than words and now he knew of no words to express how he was feeling so action would have to do.

Kyuubi could feel the love and joy welling up inside the her container and had a good idea what was coming so it was no great surprise as Naruto suddenly barrelled into her relaxing form. She'd been leaning against one of the trees in his mindscape staring up into the perpetually blue sky, the synthesised clouds white and fluffy.

The impact would have sent her to the floor had this been the real world but luckily it wasn't and so she easily caught the boy, his lips slamming against hers as she eagerly kissed back. Despite his passion he was always slow to take it to the next stage and so it was the vixens tongue that wormed up to gently lap and prod his lips for permission to enter his mouth.

Kyuubi knew she easily spent the most time with Naruto out of all his girls, even discounting that they were always 'together' he spent every night in his mindscape and made sure to make time for 'dates' or just hanging out during the day at least three times a week. But she was never going to turn down some more time with the mortal she'd fallen for, nothing could let her forget she wasn't free but when he was here she almost didn't care, almost, and it was a feeling the demon sought as much as possible.

She knew he had about an hour until his teacher was due to arrive and this bench was only a five minute walk from the meeting point, that gave her oh about two hours with the time dilation affect of the mental realms. She'd put that time to good work. Her arms wrapped around the boy to hold him against her as her great tails added themselves to the hug, cocooning the boy in a warm, fluffy, embrace as her tongue wormed past his parting lips and a soft, masculine, groan rolled from his chest to be muffled by her mouth.


	57. Chapter 57

As their two hour limit approached Kyuubi was reluctant to let the boy go, honestly she was tempted to just keep him in here all day. Honestly he didn't need to be an official ninja to be strong and she didn't really want him swearing fealty to this pathetic village but she was sure even with the amount of influence their relationship granted her she would have to be subtle about getting her way in this particular issue. Naruto-kun was loyal to a fault and whilst his view of the village and the Hokage was souring it still wasn't yet enough for her to be confident in making him separate himself from the wretched place.

So it was with a soft sigh she pulled herself away from his firm grip and smiled down at him "It's time, your sensei will likely already be there, you should have about ten minutes to wait." she informed him, the exact amount of time dilation in this realm was rather difficult to predict exactly as it shifted minutely with his emotional states and concentration.

Naruto gave a soft sigh of his own as he pulled away from her warmth, leaning in he gave her one more kiss and a bright smile "Alright! Time to become a ninja!" he cheered pushing himself to his feet and doing a few quick stretches, even if it was just in his mind it made him feel a little better after lying mostly still for over an hour.

Kyuubi's grin was toothy as she nodded "Good luck, show them how strong you are." she agreed "I'll be here to help if you need it." she knew of Kurenai's speciality and was ready to help purge Naruto's system of the affects of her chakra should the need arise.

Naruto's grin a bit more "I don't need luck Kyuubi-chan, I'm just that awesome." there was no real need to bluff to her, she knew his own thoughts perhaps even better than he did but his happy, perpetually confident mask had been in place for so long that it was almost force of habit and it offered a comforting normality to help him relax. This test would decide if he could pursue his dream after all and the futures of his precious people lay in the balance.

* * *

Leaving his mindscape took but a thought these days and his body twitched as his eyes fluttered open with a soft groan he slipped off the seat and stretched out, a low grunt escaping his lips as his limbs popped "Ah god, that always makes me feel so stiff." he grumbled softly. It was really no surprise since his body was effectively an empty husk whilst his mind was turned inwards, even his breathing slowed to an almost undetectable pace so when everything rebooted it took a few moments, or minutes, for everything to return to its normal operating levels.

He glanced down at his open palm for a moment, his worries and fears whirling through his mind for a moment, what if he wasn't good enough? What if he let his precious people down? What if his best fell short? What if? He took a deep breath and clenched his fist shaking his head "No! He'd promised before, he was Naruto Uzumaki! Kick-ass ninja and Hokage to be! Failure? Failure wasn't something he'd ever allow. Not again. He was done failing, he wasn't going to try, he would do!

With his mental pep-talk in full affect his stormy blue eyes coalesced into two bright sapphires radiating determination and confidence. "Let's do this." he muttered to himself. His hands brushed over the side of his trousers, touching against each of his tool pouches and in that moment giving him a rough idea of what he had on him, one last tool check before he began walking once more entering the clearing in the centre of the park. The area had a rather different feel this early in the morning, the bright vibrant colours that he knew were present muted, dulled, in the pale moonlight as the gentle shifting of the branches no longer caused a pleasant dance of sunlight but instead sent shadows skittering over the ground giving the impression of something great lurking just outside his ability to perceive.

"Naruto-san?" a female voice spoke up, a hint of surprise colouring it.

"Ah, Kurenai-sensei." Naruto grinned at her as he picked out the female Jōnin rather easily. The two of them had arrived at about the same time, though Kurenai was emerging from the path to his left, her outfit the same as before though she seemed to have decided to leave her flak jacket behind this time, seeing no need for the rather bulky, if useful, piece of kit.

Kurenai defiantly hadn't been expecting the blonde boy to be the first to tun up, of anything she'd expected him to be the last. His record of attendance at the academy and his reputation had fuelled those expectations but it was increasingly clear that what she'd read was either only part of the whole picture or had been fairly heavily doctored or falsified. "You're a bit early, the test doesn't start for another eight minutes." only the minute flicker of her eyes towards the moon betrayed how she was telling the time. She was impressed and pleased one of her genin had the foresight to turn up early, though surprised at which one had done so.

Naruto shrugged softly before chuckling "Well I wasn't going to let myself be late, I gotta be a ninja and it would suck to fail because I was late." he explained "Besides Ino-chan and Hinata-chan are counting on me for this test and I won't let them down." his tone had started lighthearted but it was clear how seriously he took the idea of letting down his team-mates.

In spite of herself Kurenai felt a surge of respect for the young genin before her, a smile tugged at her lips as she gave a small nod "That's a good attitude to have." she complimented "Keep it up and you and your team will go far." she meant it too, it was rare to see someone so supportive of their team and even rarer in genin "Speaking of, here comes Hinata-chan." she grinned as she turned her head to look down the same path Naruto had emerged from.

"Really?" Naruto blinked and focused more chakra into his ears, his passively increased hearing hadn't picked anything up so he was increasing the chakra he was circulating through the organ. The light breeze became an almost deafening gale but he could pick them out, the sound of shoes against the gravel of the path. Still how could she know that was Hinata? He shivered softly in spite of himself Jōnin were scary!

Of course Kurenai wasn't listening for Hinata but had instead picked up on her chakra signature "Trust me." she smiled nostalgically at the look of shocked awe that skipped across the boy's face, remembering how powerful her own sensei had seemed back when she'd first joined the shinobi forces.

True to Kurenai's words the person walking down the path was Hinata, the young girl wearing her customary jacket, Naruto had managed to coax her out of it when they were training but like his mask it was something of a safety mechanism for the girl and in public she almost always wore it. As he saw the bluenette Naruto grinned brightly and rushed forward "Hinata-chan!" he grinned pulling her into a warm hug "You ready to become a proper ninja?"

Hinata's cheeks heated up as her arms shyly slid around the energetic blonde, hugging him back "I..if we pa..p..pass." she agreed her world-view sadly a lot more pessimistic than Naruto's.

Naruto frowned softly, his hand twitching minutely as he rattled off a list of mental curses aimed at one Hiashi Hyuuga. The bastard needed some sense beaten into him and god he prayed he was the one who'd get to do it. "What do you mean if." he replied, his tone softer than Kurenai expected from the blonde as she watched the pair interacting "We're going to beat this stupid test and become ninja, we're going to be the best." his blue eyes were boring into her soft lavender ones.

Hinata shuffled softly, blushing brighter but she still couldn't bring herself to truly believe she would manage to pass this test, she just hoped she wouldn't drag Naruto down to much.

Naruto, though, wasn't happy with her silence "Hinata-chan." he murmured "We've been training together for a while now, I know you, I _know_ your strong, you can do this ok, we can do this." he leant forward and rested his forehead against hers.

Kurenai couldn't help but feel like she was intruding on something very private now as Naruto was working to encourage the shy girl. I spite of that she couldn't help the soft smile tugging at her lips, they made a nice couple and Naruto seemed to be good for her. Of course there was the complication of the CRA and Ino. Her smile faded once more. All she could do right now was trust Hinata-chan's decisions and put some trust in Naruto-san whilst being there in case the worst should happen to prop up her favourite Hyuuga and deliver apt punishment to the boy who'd hurt her.

Hinata hesitated for a bit before nodding softly, she didn't think she was strong. Naruto always beat her in their spars and did so much more during their training sessions. But his tone was so.. so sure that in spite of herself she found the stray thought running through her head. Maybe she was strong? Maybe.

Naruto, though, still wasn't done "And even, even if by some stupid fluke we do fail." he closed his eyes for a moment before letting them open once more "I promise, I promise on becoming Hokage that I won't stop loving you, I won't think it's your fault and I won't think that you're a failure." he leant in and pressed his lips softly against those of the stunned girl "You can do this. _We_ can do this, just please stop thinking that you're worthless." it was a truly heartfelt plea he knew the girl he knew that she was great at taijutsu and she could be so much more if she just broke free of those chains her family had forged to keep her down.

Hinata took a trembling breath and nodded again, this time a little more surely, she was still reeling a little from the promise Naruto had made for her. He'd promised on that one thing she felt he would never compromise on. Even though she also knew he took every promise he made just as seriously somehow the extra weight of what he promised on brought his words into sharper focus. "Yes N..Naruto-kun." she agreed. Although her tone wasn't close to the enthusiastic, confidant, tone radiating from her blonde boyfriend it was lacking the waver of doubts and pessimism from before. As usual Naruto was able to coax a little of the girl Hinata could be out, before she went back home and her family undid all the good he'd done for her.

A bright smile split Naruto's face as he pulled back from the hug "There we go." he chuckled, the serious, focused, Naruto fading and the cheerful, playful, one emerging once more "Now we just need Ino and we can pass this dumb test."

Kurenai gave a little snort "A dumb test?" she echoed lightly not really offended or angry just amused by Naruto's choice of words. She supposed back then she must of thought this test was fairly useless too. It was only during her years as a Chûnin she'd even learnt the real reason for it.

A slightly nervous chuckle escaped Naruto's lips as he glanced up at the woman, afraid she'd dock points or fail him or something for that slip of the tongue. "I mean your super-awesome, totally reasonable test?" he corrected quickly

Kurenai covered her mouth to hide her soft giggling as she waved him off "As long as I don't hear the sort of talk when we're on the clock I'm not going to punish you." she told him easily, after all she was friends with Anko, she'd heard much, much, worse even if the Jōnin wasn't quite as crass as her public perception might make one assume.

Naruto visibly relaxed and gave a short nod before turning his attention back to Hinata "So where do you think Ino-chan is?" he asked idly "You knew Hinata-chan was coming didn't you Kurenai-san, can you hear Ino-chan too?"

"Hear?" Kurenai asked "You thought I heard Hinata-chan?" she shook her head "Why would you think that?"

"I read somewhere about being able to enhance your senses after Dog-breath bragged about his family's nose and I figured that was what you were doing." Naruto lied easily, he didn't really want to admit he already knew how to enhance his senses, it would lead to a bunch of questions that would be far too difficult to answer.

"Dog-breath?" Kurenai repeated, the name was childish and insulting, something she'd definitely expect Anko to call people. She made a mental note to make sure Naruto never met her eccentric friend, if even a fraction of what she'd heard about Naruto were true then those two could well bring the village to its knees.

"Ano... he m.. means k..ki.. Kiba-san." Hinata explained, Naruto had a habit of just calling people by their nicknames and forgetting not everyone knew who he was talking about.

"Kiba? Oh the Inuzuka." she nodded softly, Hana's little brother she knew of him in passing "Well I'm impressed you even know about that technique, it can be a little risky to try and learn because you can accidentally cause severe damage to your senses by overloading them." still it was only genin ranked so it wasn't too surprising he'd of been able to find it.

Naruto could only suppress the faint grimace as she mentioned the difficulties associated with learning to enhance one's senses. He knew them well and blowing out your ear drums was not a pleasant experience, thankfully they were only a thin piece of flesh so despite being an otherwise disabling injury Kyuubi had managed to heal them in mere moments.

"But no I sensed Hinata's chakra, that's how I knew how she was coming." Kurenai finally explained

"You sensed her chakra?" Naruto asked, his brows furrowing, he knew Hinata's Byakugan allowed her to see chakra but to sense it? "How do you do that? Can I lean how? Teach me?!" predictably the boy practically exploded with enthusiasm when confronted with a new technique. Whilst his favourite was still flashy, cool, moves Kyuubi had helped spread his interest around and now Naruto would voraciously consume just about any technique he came across.

Kurenai held up her hands, not really used to dealing with a person as mercurial as Naruto "Calm down, calm down." she urged him, she hoped that some of Hinata's reservedness would rub off on him he badly needed to learn restraint it seemed. It was a wonder this boy could hide from anyone. "Sensing chakra is a fairly basic skill, you'll learn it before you become Chûnin, but before I teach you anything you need to pass the test, remember?"

Naruto deflated for a moment before shaking his head "We're definitely going to pas your test anyway!" he insisted "Come on, teach us a little bit now." if there was one thing Naruto hated it was doing nothing and even though he was sure Ino would be turning up any moment he still wanted to do something to fill the time, if he was alone or it was just him and Hinata he would train but with Kurenai here he wasn't sure what he could do without raising questions.

The Jōnin's eyes narrowed "Patience is a virtue Shinobi require Naruto-san, it's only going to be a few minutes wait, if you can't even manage that quietly then I don't see you having a future in this profession." she threw open her senses and finally felt Ino entering the park, she was moving slowly but she was hear and would likely only be maybe four or five minutes late at her current pace. Not bad at all and honestly she'd expected at least one of them to push her allowance of half an hour.

Sulking just a little from the reprimand Naruto slunk back towards Hinata and shot the girl a soft smile, his hands seeking hers out and entwining their fingers. If he was going to be forced to do nothing he might as well do it with someone that could make anything fun.

* * *

It was a few minutes later when Ino finally arrived in the clearing, her hair wasn't as neat as usual and it was obvious she'd been rushed out of the house, her clothes ruffled, her hair having been smoothed down quickly but little else leaving a few messy patches that she was tiredly attempting to smooth down as she entered the clearing, the presences of some bags under her eyes and her rather tired demeanour saying as much as a thousands words ever could. "Morning, Hinata-san, Naruto-kun." she yawned out her gaze flicking to Kurenai "Kurenai-sensei" she finished.

"You cut that one a bit close Ino-san." Kurenai lied easily, the girl had easily twenty minutes more before she'd of even started of thinking of failing her on tardiness.

Ino stiffened for a moment "I'm sorry." she mumbled looking to a side "I'm not used to waking up this early."

With a huff the older woman nodded "I figured as much from your outburst yesterday." she shook her head choosing to ignore the faint embarrassed flush that flared on Ino's cheeks, the girl too tired to be indignant, "But you're fresh genin so it's to be expected, we'll be working you out of that habit as a priority." she thought it really should have been part of the academy curriculum but she could understand why it might cause problems if it was.

Ino stumbled over to Naruto and Hinata, Hinata offering her rival of sorts a rather strained smile whilst Naruto a beaming one "Ino-chan! I knew you'd come!" he pulled her into a swift hug, almost knocking the girl off her feet.

"Yeah." she mumbled softly biting down another yawn as she was engulfed by Naruto's warmth, it would take her at least ten or twenty minutes to wake up, usually she started her shower cold to help her snap out of her sleepiness but that was hardly an option right now.

"Team 8. front and centre!" Kurenai ordered sharply, her tone once more commanding, her red eyes watching with satisfaction as her team scrambled into positions. Naruto almost dragging Ino into place as the three of them formed a line in front of her, Naruto in the middle, his eyes bright and shining, just daring the word to do its worst. Whilst Ino on his left was more or less leaning on him for support, her lidded eyes not betraying much trepidation or worry but instead merely tiredness. Kurenai had every confidence the girl would soon wake up but if she couldn't then she'd be forced to recommend another year of academy or even drop her from the programme entirely. Hinata stood to his right. Her lavender tinged eyes held a weak ember of confidence backed by a much brighter flame of determination. The young Hyuuga didn't really think she was that special but she was determined not to let her Naruto-kun down or disappoint Kurenai-sensei.

Nodding she let a soft smile play across her lips "Your test is to catch me and pin me down for three seconds, do that and you'll pass." she would, obviously, restrict herself from a good number of her techniques and limit her speed at low Chûnin to give them even a fighting task but like most tests this wasn't something the newly minted team was meant to succeed in, more a goal to work towards.

"That's it?" Naruto exclaimed, not fighting, not even some illusion based thing like he'd feared, just pin her for a moment?

Kurenai couldn't help the slightly confident smirk that slipped onto her lips at Naruto's remark "That's it." she agreed , for a Jōnin three seconds in one place was death, what she'd asked them to do was 'kill' her in a spar but it was clear the blonde hadn't realised this "But trust me on this, it won't be as easy as you think it will be. You have until noon." of course the genin would be exhausted well before then but just mentioning they had a time limit usually made them work harder, a little psychological ploy she'd picked up in her time. Her hands blurred through a quick selection of hand signs and her form blurred away, a ghostly, disembodied, voice floating through the clearing "Your time starts now!"


	58. Chapter 58

Naruto was the first to react to the start of the test, his eyes turning the distinctive purple and his pupil splitting as the illusion slipped on and he 'activated' his Gijime, he'd not been using it a whole lot but Kyuubi had made sure to nag him enough that he would use it whenever he was training with his sensei "Hinata-chan!" he grinned eager to get going "Use your Byakugan and find her."

Hinata flushed a little as she gave a tiny nod "Byakugan!" she intoned the veins around her eyes bulging as her own bloodline activated and the world shifted. Normal genjutsu simply would work on a Hyuuga and there was only a few ways to even attempt to hid from those eyes, but even so Hinata couldn't see Kurenai "I c..can't see her." she murmured faintly, disappointment filling her, Naruto-kun had been counting on her and she'd failed.

Naruto snorted "Damn she must of moved fast." he knew the range of Hinata's eyes fairly well from their training and he had every confidence in his girlfriend that if Kurenai had been close she would have been spotted. "Come on let's go find her!" he bounded off into the park in no direction in particular searching for the Jōnin, pumping just a trickle more chakra into his senses, it was, thankfully, a rather quiet night but even so he was careful not to use too much, just enough to make his own quiet footfalls sound like a heavy stomp and the girls' rather less stealthy movements closer to thunderclaps.

Ino scoffed softly as Hinata set off immediately, falling behind Naruto, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Do you even know where we're going?" she called out; but despite that she set off after them not wanting to be left behind.

Wincing at the volume of her voice Naruto shook his head "Well... no." he admitted sheepishly, his pace never slowing even as he spoke "But Hinata couldn't see her so that means she wasn't close and she _has_ to be around here somewhere"

Ino frowned "So you're just guessing?" true, she wasn't a great idea person herself but even so she liked to think that there was a reason behind their actions "And what if Hinata is wrong?" she noted with a twinge of satisfaction that her rival flinched at that accusation. "Besides I think we should go that way." she pointed to their left.

A frown flitted across Naruto's face as he came to an abrupt stop, "Hinata wouldn't miss Kurenai." he defined firmly, his bright blue eyes boring into Ino's slightly darker ones "And what makes you think she went that way?" he wasn't used to his position as team leader being challenged, Hinata hadn't the confidence to do anything like that, but even so Ino was one of his precious people so he was willing to hear her out.

Ino hesitated for a second before she replied, "I just do ok, come on!"

She did seem honestly surprised when Naruto remained steadfastly still, the blonde girl not used to having her decisions challenged, "She's not going to be on the paths or anything and we need to work together to beat her, just follow me and I'll find her for us." having had even a few moments to think on his impulsive decision a plan had now solidified in his mind.

Hinata watched the two arguing with worry in her eyes. Neither of them seeming to want to back down and let the other be the leader of the team, if she was honest she would much rather Naruto be the leader but this wasn't the time for this. Oh how she wished she could just speak up. Tell them to be quiet and focus! But despite the urge she just couldn't get her body to act in such an assertive way.

"Bu..." Ino began to argue back but she suddenly froze and went white, the only colour left on her cheeks being the thin sheen of hastily applied makeup she'd managed to slip on before rushing out the door this morning.

Hinata too gasped and her small frame shook for a moment, with her bloodline active her eyes were looking ahead almost constantly making it hard to work out what she was looking at but Ino however was staring intently at an empty patch of trees. "Genjutsu?" Naruto asked, his voice low as he scanned the tree line for any sign of their sensei.

Hinata swallowed nervously and nodded "Yes." whilst many assumed the Hyuuga were completely immune to genjutsu this was not the case, their eyes simply saw the world in such a radically different way when they were activated that even though they could see what the genjutsu was projecting it was obviously fake, like a splotch of red paint in the middle of an otherwise well-done painting.

Kurenai had been following her new team, using her knowledge of Hinata she was lagging thirty metres behind the fresh graduates. As far as she knew Hinata's range with her Byakugan was a hair beneath twenty metres but she wasn't sure if her recent training with Naruto had increased that so she'd decided to give herself a significant safety margin. Having easily picked up the argument between Ino and Naruto she'd woven a quick genjutsu to see if some pressure would help the teenagers cooperate better. Saving her more intense jutsu for later she'd created the image of a mutilated corpse slumped against a tree. She knew of a few jutsu that could pull off this affect but she'd gone with her Demonic Illusion; False Surroundings, a fairly low C rank that would be fairly easy for her potential team to break.

Naruto frowned and reached over shaking Ino roughly "Snap out of it!" he barked "Come on it's just an illusion." he couldn't see what had shaken Ino up but it must have been pretty bad since she barely responded to his harsh shouts, her eyes still locked onto the base of the tree.

"N..naruto-kun?" Hinata spoke softly, he didn't say anything but his gaze shifted to her even as his hands lingered on Ino's shoulders where he'd paused his attempts to shake some sense into her. "I can see the chakra." it was a low whisper but on that brought an almost feral grin to the boy's face, that was before he remembered Ino and it slipped off once more. His mind churning; Hinata could potentially track Kurenai through the tentative trail of chakra used to cast the genjutsu but if they were anything like his chakra strings they would have only a precious few moments before the trail dissipated, they had to snap Ino out of this genjutsu. Quickly.

"Hey, Hinata-chan." he murmured thoughtfully, "Didn't the academy say that disrupting your chakra ended a genjutsu?" he didn't wait for a confirmation as he was less asking than thinking out loud "And your gentle fist... Hinata-chan! Quickly, hit Ino, get one of her tenketsu."

The Hyuuga felt a swell of admiration for her boyfriend, how could anyone call him stupid when he had ideas like this? She knew he was hardly the best academically but that didn't make him stupid. Darting forward with a speed and grace brought with many hours of practice her finger darted out and she closed a tenketsu on Ino's left shoulder blade. Hopefully it was a minor enough point that the imbalance wouldn't affect her too much.

The sudden spike of foreign chakra into her system made Ino jerk to her senses with a start the image that had held her in horrified fascination wavering and disappearing like the nightmare it would no doubt become next time she closed her eyes "Wha?" she murmured still obviously shaken and pale but at least responding now.

"No time! Genjutsu" Naruto barked "Hinata-chan, track the chakra please, quickly! Ino-chan, keep up!" he knew he was just a fraction faster than Hinata so he could keep up with her but he'd never trained with Ino nor paid much attention to her times in class so he wasn't sure how fast she was.

Kurenai was mildly impressed with Naruto's thinking, using gentle fist to break out of genjutsu was not an undocumented phenomena but it certainly wasn't something a genin would have read about. Still as far as escape techniques went it was only one step above stabbing a team-mate to break an illusion. Hearing her team close in she paused for a moment, deliberately letting them close to within Hinata's range before she began to back off. After so many missions as a Jōnin she had to force herself to move with less grace, make her footfalls deliberately heavy, her motions artificially awkward so she could leave a trail for them to track.

"There she is!" Hinata gasped between breaths as she lead the way through the park's trees. The thickets that bordered the path carefully manicured to give the illusion of the natural woodland that existed outside the city walls. However as quickly as she'd caught a glimpse of Kurenai's familiar chakra it had vanished, the Jōnin moving faster than Hinata could hope to go. In truth she was only setting a speed around that of a mid level Chûnin.

"Where?" Naruto asked, his bright eyes scanning the foliage as he once more supercharged his senses, his argument with Ino having forced him to drop the enhancement or be deafened, with Kurenai making an effort at poor stealth he was just about able to pick up the odd twig snapping or footfall. "Got it!" he declared "I'm faster, I'll go ahead and stall her, you and Ino-chan catch up quick."

With his orders given Naruto accelerated forward, leaning forward and making his body leaner to cut through the air better. He wasn't a great deal better than Hinata but it was enough to pull ahead, especially when she was slowing to let Ino catch up.

* * *

It didn't take much for him to get on Kurenai's trail and now he was alone he was able to put jut that bit more chakra into his ears tracking her by sound alone. At these speeds they swiftly ran out of trees and so Naruto burst from the cover provided by the foliage onto a well kept lawn to see his Jōnin sensei standing a few metres away, sharp red eyes regarding him, immediately cutting the chakra from his ears he brought himself to a quick halt, his hand diving down into his pocket to grab a brace of kunai.

"It seems you really are immune to genjutsu like your report states." she noted "But are you sure it's wise to face a Jōnin by yourself?" she's woven a genjutsu behind her as she'd lead Naruto through the trees, designed to leave its victim wandering in endless circles and apparently he'd blown right through it without even noticing. She wished she could test to see if he was truly immune but it was simply unethical to use anything above a C rank on an academy fresh genin, she was here to test, not traumatise.

A cocky grin appeared on Naruto's face as he flung the first wave of knives at her, already focusing his chakra for his next move "I'm not by myself, my girlfriends will be here soon and we'll kick your ass." he spoke with his usual surety, his gaze tracking the blackened steel as it traced through the air.

Kurenai almost lazily reached out and plucked the leading knife from the air twisting her body she ducked under two more blades and deflected the fifth with her purloined weapon. She was no taijutsu or blade master but she was still in a league far above any genin.

"But don't count me out just yet, I have a few surprises for you!" Naruto's voice suddenly rang out behind her, the blonde having kawarimied himself with one of the knives she had dodged, a blade in hand as he spun with the hopes of sinking the cold steel into an arm or leg.

Despite a moment of surprise Kurenai was quick to react and her foot shot out behind her in a mule kick, the wooden sandal she was wearing slammed into Naruto's stomach with a clap of displaced air, forcing a wheezing gasp from the boy's mouth.

Mercifully there hadn't been more than a trickle of chakra reinforcing the kick so Naruto was only knocked head over heels rolling backwards twice as the kunai in his grip fell to embed in the soft soil. Kurenai tossed the kunai she'd grabbed to the floor and brought her hands up to try her favoured art once more. She'd seen that low level genjutsu seemed to have no affect on Naruto but she wasn't Konoha's leading genjutsu mistress for nothing and she wanted to see if using more chakra would allow her to override his defences.

Gasping and spluttering Naruto pushed himself upright from where he'd rolled to a stop, that had just been one kick! And he'd been taken out?! His hands tightened into fists, as he pushed himself upright just in time to hear Kurenai's voice ring out across the field "Descending Hell technique" his eyes widened as his head darted up to her to see what she was doing, then he felt it. A terrible oppressive heat scorching his flesh.

His eyes tracked upwards and widened as he saw it, hanging in the air, a fireball that absolutely dwarfed anything he'd ever seen before, like a second sun had been called into being. Was this what a Jōnin truly was?! To his horror he realised it was beginning to move forwards but as he watched the image seemed to flicker and shift "Genjutsu." he realised bringing his hands together "Kai!" he barked flaring his chakra and easily dismissing the illusion.

Kurenai nodded to herself. Immune was an overstatement then, he was merely resistant, Demonic Illusion: Descending Hell was a C rank illusion and she'd used three times the normal amount of chakra and even then she'd felt how tentative the illusion's hold on him had been, she wouldn't have been surprised if there was some visual or sensory disruption to the intended image.

A flicker of Naruto's eyes to the tree line was all the clue Kurenai needed as she glanced back to see Ino and Hinata emerging onto the field as well. They had only been a handful of seconds behind it seems, she chastised herself for getting so caught up in her art that she'd forgotten to keep her senses open, if they'd been even Chûnin level she'd of been ambushed far too easily for her liking.

Grinning as he noticed the girls Naruto launched himself forward, "Hinata-chan! Ino-chan! Come on, we just need to pin her down!" he called out swinging his fist as he put his momentum behind his opening punch, already preparing to transition into a kick if Kurenai blocked it.

Ino was, perhaps understandably, rather angry at Kurenai, first for making her wake up so early and then for humiliating her with that illusion. So she wasted no time in charging forward, a shrill war cry escaping her lips.

Hinata was the last to approach, her movements much more cautious and careful but of the three she was the most fluid and it was obvious the extra time she spent of her taijutsu and the increased familiarity she had with it.

Weaving around the strikes Kurenai took a mental assessment of the three, catching a kick from Ino she used the momentum to spin herself away from an attempted grapple from Naruto, throwing the blonde girl and releasing her just in time to bend backwards and avoid the pinpoint strikes of Hinata's gentle fist.

Her hands met the floor as she rolled back into a cartwheel coiling her body she launched herself powerfully upwards the soles of her sandles slamming into Naruto's jaw with a sharp crack and sending the boy stumbling back as she launched herself over the next flurry of strikes from Hinata, her hands shooting down and gripping the young Hyuuga's shoulders, using them as pivots to turn herself around so she landed facing the three genin and at the same time trying to dislocate the girl's dominant arm. Sadly the young girl allowed herself to go with the movement and so Kurenai was unable to disable her.

"Ino-chan! Try and hit her with your mind thingy jutsu!" Naruto called out, mildly impressing the Jōnin with his ability to resist pain, she was pretty sure her kick would have fractured his jaw and definitely chipped if not broke a handful of his teeth.

"Mind Body Switch!" Ino corrected angrily "It's not that hard to remember! And I was going to do that anyway, you're not the boss here!"

Kurenai would have shaken her head if she weren't busy weaving around the strikes of her team. Hinata was definitely the best of her team in taijutsu. Proficient with her clan style, but awkward. There was a hesitance and awkwardness around her every movement and until those left she'd never be able to call the girl good at taijutsu. She'd have to get Gai involved and see if he could work out exactly why Hinata was having those problems though she could easily attribute the hesitance to her non-violent nature.

She instinctively turned aside a palm strike coming from behind her, her eyes widening fractionally as she noted the hand it had come from. Naruto? Apparently he'd managed to pick up a few moves from the gentle fist, his entire taijutsu style was a mess, a medley of moves thrown together that had no real right to co-exist, with some effort he might be able to refine it into something serviceable but as it was the awkward transition is stance between most of his actions served to more than compensate for the unpredictability of the _style_. Gai would no doubt be utterly horrified by this, still he was fast and strong for his age and rank, that made up for a lot amongst genin.

"Mind Body Switch!" Ino announced her hands forming her clans unique sign as she tracked the Jōnin as best she could through the melee, both Naruto and Hinata falling back a few inches lest they get hit accidentally.

That brought her to her final genin, Ino, it was increasingly clear to her that the girl had been rather pampered by her parents, of the three her taijutsu was the worst. She stuck to the academy style and whilst her form was better than Naruto's she hadn't the speed nor power to truly back it up, though she was notably more flexible than the only male on the team. Yamanaka were rarely direct combat style shinobi anyway and Ino was pegged to be the support of the team but even so Kurenai would want her able to hold her own. She threw out her chakra to enact a quick kawarimi with one of the Naruto had thrown earlier to avoid Ino's jutsu, the speed her self moved once it was cast was something that also clearly needed work.

Without a mind to run it Ino's body crumpled to the grass, something that Naruto quickly realised. Having never been conscious to witness her using the technique on anyone else nor really understanding what it did he was understandably rather worried "Ino-chan!" he was far too slow to catch her before her limp body hit the floor but he was next to her in an instant.

Hinata had heard a little on the Yamanaka techniques though her family, the veneer of togetherness that stretched over the clans of Konoha hid decades of infighting and most clans knew a fair amount of each others' secrets, heirs were usually equipped with the basics so they would know how to beat their peers. Kurenai had simply seen them in action but was pleased by Naruto's care for his team-mates, though she had to admit he was likely caring about them because they were his girlfriends rather than any team bond. "She's fine Naruto." she announced calmly.

"but she's not moving! Or breathing!" the boy's tone was obviously panicked and he didn't seem to believe Kurenai's reassurance.

"She's a Yamanaka, her techniques leave her body without a mind so it goes into a sort of trance." the Jōnin knew she had to be careful with her explanation the clan's secrets weren't hers to tell.

Naruto's brow creased in thought as he looked down at the body cradled gently in his arms. So sort of like when he went into his mind to visit Kyuubi-chan? He mused 'Exactly like that Naruto-kun.' the demon in question replied 'The Jōnin is correct, she'll be fine.'

Reassured by Kyuubi Naruto nodded softly before looking up at Kurenai "How long until she's back then?" he questioned, his panic now passed he was aware the test was still going and his body tensed ready to spring at the woman when she talked, hopefully the surprise would be enough to let him achieve his objective.

Naruto was skilled at hiding emotions, his intent less so. Kurenai easily picked up his muscles coiling as he prepared to spring at her and held up her hand "No need for that Naruto-san." she assured him "Ino-san will return to her body in a few minutes at most." as far as she knew it differed from Yamanaka to Yamanaka, probably based on skill "But you've suitably impressed me, all of you have." she nodded as she let her gaze sweep over the two conscious members of the team "I have but one more thing to test you on before I deliver my verdict."


	59. Chapter 59

In the end it took Ino around six minutes to recover from the failed technique, time that Naruto spent alternating between trying to wheedle out what the next test would be from Kurenai and trying to figure it out with Hinata.

Her body shuddered as her consciousness settled back into place, muscles that had gone completely limp suddenly remembering their usual resting positions. Lungs that had all but stilled gasping for air as her mind realised it needed that air to live.

Her movements though small were easily picked up by the other people in the small park and so when she opened her eyes a few moments later she realised she had three sets of eyes on her. She couldn't hold their gaze for long though and her blue eyes flickered downwards "I missed." it was a statement but one could easily hear the annoyance in it.

"I'm a Jōnin Ino-san, the only way you would have hit me is if I allowed it." Kurenai was rather blunter in her reply than she usually would be but Ino needed to hear the truth rather than the sugar-coated version she'd been fed from her parents. "But." she smiled "All three of you showed me that you have the skill and potential needed to be shinobi." Both Naruto and Hinata were mid-level genin in skill with Ino lagging behind; nothing especially noteworthy but certainly none warranted another term in the academy.

Ino broke out into a bright grin, not having been conscious to hear that they still had a second part of the test to pass, "So we pass?"

Kurenai shook her head, noting that Naruto and Hinata had both perked up at her praise despite knowing they hadn't passed yet; she supposed that was one thing they likely shared, neither had ever been properly encouraged before. "You haven't passed just yet Ino-san. Being a ninja isn't just about skill." as she spoke she began to weave hand signs, rather than the usual blur they were slow and purposeful. Ostensibly to ensure she didn't finish the sequence before she finished talking but truthfully she was moulding far more chakra into the technique than she ever usually used so maintaining the near perfect control needed for genjutsu was forcing her to take it slow. Still she needed this chakra to be able to affect Naruto and it would give her a chance to confirm or refute her earlier discovery of his _resistance_ not immunity to genjutsu. "Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique." she whispered as she held the rat sign.

Most ninjutsu had the affect begin the moment after the name was called, for genjutsu this relationship tended to be inverted simply because it was hard to fool someone who'd just heard an opponent announce that he was using an illusion. So Naruto managed to catch the very beginning of Kurenai's jutsu name before she went silent and his view was obscured by a sudden flurry of leaves.

For a split second the blonde felt something was wrong before the illusion firmly took root and he calmed, there were plenty of trees around and it was pretty windy, of course the flurry wasn't anything odd but as the leaves dropped to the floor his eyes widened.

Kurenai was nowhere to be seen but his two team-mates and girlfriends were lying on the floor, dying, Hinata was sprawled out with three kunai embedded firmly in her body, one through each palm staking her to the floor whilst the forth had been messily shoved into her chest, the wound jagged and viscous suggesting either that the weapon had been incredibly blunt or whoever had done it had wanted to make the girl suffer as much as possible; bright red arterial blood bubbled up around the blackened steel his training telling him what he refused to believe. That knife had to have hit her heart, she was dead unless he got her some medical attention within a few moments.

Ino was no better her body pinned halfway up one of the trees by a sword that had been driven through her stomach, a line of red drenched her clothing where the blood was running freely from the wound and down the bark of the tree to pool at its base. Gravity was slowly pulling her downwards towards the floor, each inch she slipped drawing a strangled, gasped, scream from her lips as the sword tore through her flesh ripping and tearing rather than cleanly cutting making it obvious that a good two inch of the tree inch hole hadn't been made by the initial stab. For a moment Naruto's horrified brain only managed to winder why she hadn't pulled the blade free herself but then he numbly noticed that her arms had been broken, halfway between her elbow and wrist, in both cases they looked crushed, the flesh a mangled mess of blood and muscle with shards of what must of once been her bones jutting out at seemingly impossible angles from her flesh; clearly neither appendage would ever be usable again even if she managed to avoid having both amputated.

Compared to Ino's screams and frenzied thrashing Hinata was silent and dreadfully still, her eyes staring blankly up at the uncaring sky Naruto didn't know which was worse.

"Ino! Hinata!" Naruto scrambled forward, almost tripping in his desperation, the sheer impact of the sight before him had frozen him for a moment but now he was fully intent to help them "Anyone! Help! Please!" tears were running from his eyes and he didn't notice as he cried for help wishing he knew some medical jutsu, anything!

Hinata was the one who would die first, he knew Ino's stomach must of been ripped open and he was well aware of how agonizing that death could be but critically it was _slower_ than what had been done to Hinata. If he was to save both of them Hinata needed to be dealt with first!

Thankfully the fallen Hyuuga was only a handful of steps away from Naruto and despite all his co-ordination having vanished he managed to reach her in a heartbeat falling to his knees beside her his hands hovering over her still form as his every instinct screamed at him to help yet he just didn't know _how_.

Her blank gaze seemed to lock onto him an Naruto almost smiled at the sign, however small, that the girl was still with him. Then the screaming started. "Stay away! Don't hurt me again!" It was high pitched and frantic, blood dribbling from her mouth as her screams stressed the lung the blade in her heart had managed to clip turning the screaming into more of a gurgling noise her hysterical gaze locked into Naruto as she scrambled to push herself away from him the blades in her hands tearing the the flesh as every movement was accompanied by the crunching of breaking bone and the sick wet noise as more and more blood poured from her wounds, her suddenly frantic heartbeat only serving to help her bleed out faster.

His gaze flicked up to Ino searching for some acceptance, some love, some assurance that he hadn't.. he couldn't have done this.. he couldn't have! He wasn't a monster. He wasn't a demon! He wasn't what everyone said he was! He could almost feel his heart break as instead of the kind gaze she flinched under his gaze and pressed herself against the bark of the tree that was to be her headstone unlike Hinata her lungs were uninjured but her voice was harsh from her constant screaming and as she kept slipping downwards on the blade she couldn't manage more than a handful or words before another scream stole her throat "Stay away from me you monster! You! You did this and you're back to make us suffer more aren't you?!"

That last line was definitely not something someone in Ino's position would ever realistically say but with Naruto's mind melting down and the boy's horror climbing the genjutsu had more leverage. The young ninja certainly wasn't looking for errors any more, nor was he particularly receptive to those that showed; even now his potent chakra was unravelling Kurenai's grip on him and had he noticed the surroundings were slowly becoming blander, more samey, more like a two dimensional backdrop than a real world scene.

* * *

Inside Naruto's mind Kyuubi was growling lowly in impotent fury at Naruto's new teacher. She had easily been able to realise what was going on since her own chakra was entirely free of Kurenai's influence she could see the real world out of Naruto's eyes but she could feel his pain too and his memories of what he thought was happening. It would be so easy to flare her chakra through the broken seal and purge Naruto's system of the genjutsu but she just couldn't afford to do so. If Naruto was seen to be able to use her chakra she was sure his seal would be checked and right now it couldn't hold even a lowly human if they wanted to escape. So in the end it was risking upsetting Naruto by 'refusing' to give help or an almost certainty of loosing contact with him entirely when his seal was replaced or very heavily reinforced.

The former had never been a series option and she was certain if it came to it she could make Naruto see it from her perspective; he was still so adorably trusting of his precious people. She would have to break him of that habit, obviously, paranoia was a useful neurosis if ever she'd seen one and with any luck she'd be able to do it in a way that left him still trusting her implicitly though if he did her lesson obviously wouldn't have sunk in.

* * *

Kurenai watched with professional disinterest as her young charges suffered under the affects of her genjutsu. To a casual observer it might of looked like she really didn't care about their suffering but a closer look would reveal her hands curled into fists were clenched tighter than her casual posture would suggest they should be. She loved her art but Kurenai didn't like using it in this way, she didn't share Anko's preferences and her preferred illusions offered their targets a quick death at least and even Hell Viewing was fine when she aimed it at enemies but these were innocent genin. She let a small sigh break through her façade, it wasn't like any of the three could hear it, thankfully they wouldn't have to suffer much longer, she'd release them soon and deliver her test it was cruel but she was saving them from greater evils.

* * *

'Kyuubi! Help!' Naruto called out desperately 'I... they think I did... I didn't... You know that right?!' he was desperately looking for someone to agree with him. He wasn't what they all said he was! He would _never_ hurt his precious people! Ever!

Whilst Kurenai had no idea about Kyuubi this particular genjutsu used the target's own fears against them to build its reality and so the response from deep within his seal came quickly accompanied by a deep, hateful, growl that reminded Naruto of that hazy moment he'd fallen to the genjutsu when he was fighting Mizuki. 'Don't talk to me you monster! I saw what you did to them! And worse! You abused my power to do it! I never want to see or talk to you again!'

It was rather anticlimactic, Naruto decided, his horror and disgust at himself crystallising into a moment of surreal calm. After all the manga he'd managed to read and all the stories he'd heard he'd expected to actually feel something now. That he'd pass on some last message, have someone to tearfully say goodbye to. His hand dipped down towards his kunai holster as if what he was going to do was an everyday activity. His mind calling on every scrap of sealing knowledge it had, would he be able to ensure a lethal strike and damage the seal enough to free Kyuubi in one go or would he need two strikes? Once more he found himself contemplating how much of a let-down this moment was, well that was why this was reality, not some comic book fantasy. His fingers had just reached the sturdy leather flap of the pouch when the illusion around him seemed to flex for a moment before shattering.

* * *

Kurenai had been watching the three carefully, each of them had reacted in their own ways, Hinata had just gone still and whimpered, occasionally apologizing or flinching under strikes the Jōnin couldn't see landing but could easily envision who was delivering. Ino had wept, curling up into a ball and pressing herself into an imaginary corner seemingly trying to shut out the world. Naruto had been the most active as he'd rushed to something, again Kurenai couldn't see what he was reacting to but judging from his words she'd been able to guess he must of seen something happen to Ino and Hinata she'd been counting down the last few moments when she'd noted his hand inching towards his kunai pouch and had immediately brought the three out of the genjutsu.

All three teens suddenly floundered like fish finding themselves on dry land as their own personal hells were suddenly shattered and thrown to the wind. Ino and Hinata both looked around whilst Naruto suddenly stilled.

'Naruto!' Kyuubi's voice suddenly filled his mind as he found himself in the same clearing, Ino and Hinata to his side. Unharmed. Kurenai watching them with a mix of worry and pity.

'Kyuubi-chan?! But I.. I mean...' Naruto struggled to grasp what had happened but the warmth and worry thick in the demon's voice helped sooth the festering wound left in the wake of Kurenai's genjutsu.

'It was a genjutsu' Kyuubi told him softly, she'd been incredibly touched that even as his world was falling down he'd tried to free her. He'd promised to do so but having a promise and seeing it actually carried out were different things even when it was Naruto giving the promises and she knew how much they meant to him. Of course she was also mad that he'd even tried to kill himself but now definitely wasn't the time to chastise him, he needed comfort.

'A genjutsu. Then none of it was...' he trailed off the relief rolling off him almost palpable as he slumped, suddenly feeling exhausted too tried to even feel angry at Kurenai for putting him through that right now.

Having given the poor kids some time to recover themselves Kurenai clapped her hands firmly, the sharp sound drawing their eyes to her. She took a moment to asses the emotions swimming in them, Ino definitely wasn't pleased but was too scared of the woman to bring it up. Hinata just seemed confused and betrayed whilst Naruto's gaze seemed jaded, tired, like a veteran who could no longer manage to feel anything. His reaction to the genjutsu had been the most extreme too. She knew enough about his past from his records to realise her genjutsu had probably brought up a few ghosts of his past, either that or his happy exterior was just a front. She'd keep an eye on him, maybe recommend a session or two with a counsellor if any more warning flags were raised.

"No doubt you realise that what you just saw was a genjutsu." she began, keeping her voice soft and reassuring, "I'm sorry to put you through that but it was necessary. Being a ninja is not all fun and games, if you continue down this path then you need to be aware that whatever you've seen, whatever I just showed you, is not the worse that might happen to you." she let her gaze lock with each of her teams' in turn to stress her point "If knowing that you still want to be ninja then step forward." this was the true test, their reaction to the genjutsu was noted but she wasn't going to judge her genin for not being able to cope with what they saw, that sort of self-control was usually indicative of a powerful Chûnin or Jōnin.

A soft frown flitted across Naruto's face a momentary pang of annoyance managing to surface on his otherwise blank mind. That was it? The reason she'd done that to him? To show him that life was going to be hard?! He knew that! He would become strong. He would ensure that nothing like that vision could ever come to pass. With those thoughts he stepped forward being the first of the group to do so, much to Kurenai's surprise.

It took a little longer but a small glance from Naruto and a seemingly silent conversation was enough to get Hinata to step up and Ino stepped up a moment after Naruto had.

Kurenai smiled widely at her new team "Congratulations. All of you." she enthused trying to help them bounce back from her genjutsu "You passed, welcome to Team 8, and to Konohagakure's shinobi force."

There was no celebration, no cheering, but small smiles tugged at the lips of the, now official, genin. As a group they all seemed too haunted or tired to celebrate right now though the knowledge that they passed seemed to have helped at least chase away some of the demons each of them was currently struggling under.

Realising this Kurenai stepped forward "Meet up at Katon Grill tomorrow evening and I'll buy you a celebratory meal." she paused for a moment before reaching into her pocket and quickly jotting down the address handing each of her students a scrap of paper "In case you don't know where that is." she told them, she'd also included the time on the off chance they hadn't remembered. They were hardly in the right mental state to listen well after all "See you all then, good job. Dismissed." she would have to find some of her colleagues later today and make sure she hadn't mucked anything up during the test, but she thought she'd done well. This team would work, not like her apprentice. She closed her eyes and pushed back the unhappy memories before opening them to see if any of her team had stayed, predictably Hinata had.

* * *

Sorry for the slightly shorter chapter, this was just a natural end point and since the next scene or two may well contain the first lemon of this story I didn't want to have to truncate or cut off the buildup simply to fit it in. That said I'm still playing with how the next bit should play out so it's not a promise of a lemon.


End file.
